"A Waterpot, A Well, & A Word!!!"

“A Waterpot, A Well, & A Word!!!”

John 4:28-30

The Waterpot

This waterpot has a lot of valuable lessons that we can all learn and apply to our daily lives! Just like this woman, we all have a waterpot of our own. However, it is important to note that some of us have preoccupied our waterpots with stuff that should not be in them! The primary purpose of the waterpot was to carry water, but too many of us are carrying around so many other things in the pot that we can not use it for the exact primary purpose it has been designed for. The waterpot was supposed to be a means to a solution and not a method of suppression.

Some things that do not belong in the waterpot:

Anger, Frustration, Confusion, Depression, Worry, Gossip, Backbiting, Hatred, Disagreements, Grudges, Profanity, Adultery, Fornication, Lying, Gambling, Jealousy, Complaining, Alcohol, Drugs, Cigarettes, Murder, Suicide, Envying, Covetousness, Generational Curses, Dishonesty, Unfaithfulness, Unrighteousness, Unholiness

Some things that do belong in the waterpot:

Love, Joy, Peace, Longuffering, Gentleness, Goodness, Faith, Meekness, Temperance, Friendliness, Blessing, Edification, Godliness, Righteousness, Holiness

Up until verse 28, this waterpot had helped to define the temporary purpose for this woman. What else she had to do later that day was not mentioned. Her previous future plans before this encounter with JESUS were not even pondered by the Bible. However, one thing is certain: verse 28 shows us that despite what her original purpose was when she left home that she had voluntarily relinquished that purpose and accepted the assignment of a new purpose that was meant for her to accomplish long before she ever touched the waterpot! This verse also shows us what we are to do after coming in contact with JESUS! She had left her residence with the waterpot in her hand apparently, but had left the waterpot at the well in the company of JESUS to go and carry a Word of Him and her witness of Him back into the town! She was to have carried the waterpot back into the town full of water but ended up leaving the outer vessel used to carry the need (water) to make sure and carry back the inner vessel that had been filled with the new Water that JESUS had spoken of (v. 14)! This Water that JESUS had introduced her to had in fact assigned her a new purpose for her life! It was so refreshing (John 7:37-39)! This woman had left where she was in the town carrying the waterpot with her the entire time. However, because of her awesome experience with JESUS, upon her leaving to go run back into town to tell everyone of what has just happened to her, she totally forgot about the object she had already been carrying around! This is to remind us that if we can just remember to move as the Spirit of GOD would have us to do, we also can move without restriction based on what we have already been carrying. Notice that the woman was not asked by JESUS to leave the waterpot behind, but she voluntarily did it! Also, look at the provision that had been made for she actually was concerned in the beginning with JESUS not having anything to draw with! However, in her haste to go and witness about Him, she did not realize that she had also left behind a tool of ministry for Him in that He could have (if He chose to) used that same waterpot to meet the physical need that He had in verse 7.

The waterpot had to have been:

Hard; round; of a considerably big size; leak proof.

The Well

The place where the water is contained in from the earth. It was at this same well that Jacob drank as well as his family and livestock. The woman knew the history of this particular well from learning about it possibly through her cultural upbringing. It was not a popular hangout but held much importance in their everyday way of life. Whether or not there was another accessible well close by is not known. However, the well contained water that was pertinent for survival of all physically living humans and creatures! Though there was no noted spiritual purpose of this particular well, its purpose in this text represents something far greater than that of just an average landmark or rest stop! For it was at this well that JESUS decided to stop, rest, and receive nourishment after waiting for someone to come and draw from it so that He might be able to drink! This in itself was rather amazing to understand and fully believe! Here we find JESUS who, just 2 chapters before this one, touched this very thing that He was waiting to drink and turned it into wine! This is the same JESUS that had stepped out on the edge of the boat when He and His Disciples were on a boat in the midst of a ferocious storm and told the waters and winds to be still at peace! This same JESUS had also in another like situation walked on the water to go unto the land on the other side in the midst of a great tempest and in the process also empowered Peter to momentarily walk on the water just as He was doing! Therefore, it is amazing to conceive and wholeheartedly believe that this same JESUS that had this type of power could have actually been in a helpless situation by not being able to draw any water from the well! He could have simply spoke the Word and the water would have filled up the well and overflowed for Him to drink as a glass would do under a running stream of water! He could have spoken a Word that would have made the water spring up in a small stream from where it was so that He could have drank from it as a water fountain! Not to mention the fact that He could have merely spoken a Word to nature and caused the rains to pour down in such a fashion that He would have the very waters of Heaven pour down and quench His thirst! Knowing that all of this is totally possible how is it then that JESUS was sitting here in need of a drink of water with no vessel to draw for Himself? Therefore, it is rather evident that His purpose for sitting on this well was not merely to receive a drink from someone that would eventually come and draw from it. His purpose for being at this well at this particular place and time shows us that GOD had already ordained this meeting that was about to occur! Here He is at the well at about the sixth hour. Why did he not get there at the fifth hour or at the seventh hour? The ordination of GOD is very clear on this wise in that it was the perfect time and place for GOD to work without hindrances (John 4:8)! This is how our Churches need to be---set up and centered around allowing GOD to meet others there, minister to them, work on them, and give them a new or renewed purpose in Him! Though this well was publicly accessible by many, at this point it was the basis of a one-on-one private & intimate encounter! This particular meeting was so intense that the woman never actually utilized the full purpose for which she had come to the well initially! However, one of the awesome benefits of the plan of GOD is that it always makes a completion of itself. Even though the woman is seen in the text leaving her waterpot at the well to go gather the people of the town, she also ended up coming back to where it was when she led the people out of the town to where JESUS was which was at the well with her waterpot! So even though her original plan was halted, she most likely was able to finish doing what she had initially started out to do in the first place. However, look at how much extra she accomplished just by moving according to the Spirit of GOD! This should in itself be a lesson for us all in that we should not get so caught up into pursuing what we would like to accomplish in our daily lives that we actually neglect the time and opportunity to allow GOD to use us to accomplish His purpose for us on that day!