September 11, 2020
John 4:28-30
Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people,  “Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?”  They came out of the town and made their way toward him.

John 4:39-42
Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, “He told me everything I ever did.”  So when the Samaritans came to him, they urged him to stay with them, and he stayed two days.  And because of his words many more became believers.
They said to the woman, “We no longer believe just because of what you said; now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world.”

New International Version (NIV)
How exactly do we change the world?  By all accounts it needs to change.  But how do we do it?  One life at a time.  But where do we start?  Where we are.

Jesus was in Samaria.  John tells us he had to go there.  And when he got there, being fully human and completely thirsty, he needed water to drink.  In the absence of a convenience store, he stopped at a well.  But he had no bucket to draw water out of the well.  When a woman came at midday to draw water, Jesus talked to her.  This would have been considered rude or forward for a man to talk to a woman at a well.  Did I mention a Jewish man talking to a Samaritan woman?  Still, Jesus engaged her in an extraordinary conversation that changed her life.  She came to believe that day and left her water bucket behind. 

Changed people change people.  Her encounter with her Lord fresh on her mind, the woman ran back to her village and brought the people out to Jesus.  For two days Jesus shared life with them.  As a result the whole town was changed by believing in Jesus as well.  At a recent funeral for a friend I saw the results of one person who met Jesus engaging others for a period of twenty-five years.  A line of people in person and on the internet spoke of my friend’s impact on their lives. 

In case we are wondering, that is how it happens.  One life transformed leads to other transformations.  Every time I believe and surrender to Christ’s transforming work in my life, there is a chance that others will come to know him as well.  At first my story may intrigue them.  But when they meet Jesus they will have their own story. 

What right do we have to intrude on someone else’s life.  Why don’t we just mind our own business, spiritually speaking?  Charles Spurgeon used this analogy:  “If you were a fireman and found a person in an upper room and the house was on fire, would you not struggle with him rather than let him remain in the room and burn? You would say, ‘I will save you in spite of yourself.’ Perhaps the foolish would call you names and say, ‘Let me alone, why should you intrude into my chamber?’ But you would say, ‘Never mind my intrusion; I will apologize afterwards for my rudeness, but you must be out of the fire first.’ I pray God give you this blessed unmannerliness, this sweet casting of all things to the wind, if by any means you might save some.”  One life at a time.  Wherever God places us.  Today.  Now.
Pray with me:         
Father, thank you for your transforming, life-saving power.  Please don’t ever stop working in us, changing us.  Make us agents of change.  Help us to love the person in front of us today, for their sake, our sake and the sake of the world.  In Jesus’ name.  Amen.   
Join us in memorizing the Word.  Scripture for this week:    
Matthew 6:29-30
Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you—you of little faith?
Our 2020 Every Day with Jesus readings will follow the Foundations New Testament reading plan.  Copies of the reading plan are available at Tallowood Baptist Church, or download your copy at REPLICATE.ORG 
We would love for you to join us as we read the New Testament through this year, five chapters a week.  In addition I will continue my long-standing practice of reading one Psalm a day through the year.  Use Robby Gallaty’s H. E. A. R. plan to study each chapter (also found at REPLICATE.ORG). Highlight verses which speak to you, explain what they mean in your own words in a journal, apply them to your own life, then respond by doing what God tells you to do.  
Joyfully, 
Duane 

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