THE POWER OF A CHANGED LIFE

I love John 4:28. It says that after talking with Jesus, the woman [at the well] “left her water jar beside the well” and headed back toward town. Have you ever had an unexpected encounter so world-shaking that it caused you to forget  what you were doing? I can picture Jesus noticing the forgotten water jar and smiling at its symbolism. She’d not only brought an empty water jar to the well, she’d brought an empty life. And she was leaving them both behind.

I also love the stir this woman created when she got back to town. Keep in mind, she wouldn’t have been a popular figure. People would have distanced themselves from her. But on this day her message was so intriguing and her enthusiasm so contagious that even her harshest critics were filled with curiosity. “Come and meet a man who told me everything I ever did!” she said (John 4:29).

And they did. Followed her out to the well as if she were the Pied Piper of Hamelin.

Such is the power of a changed life.

-- Mark Atteberry in “Free Refill: Coming Back for More of Jesus”

#4287