One hot day, Jesus sat at a
well. There was a woman there, and Jesus broke every racial, gender and
religious rule in effect at the time. Jews didn't talk to Samaritans; there was
a religious and a national wall there. Just as occurs in Saudi Arabia and
other Moslem countries today, a man never would speak to a woman who was not
related to him. There was a social wall. Though this woman was living in sin
with a man who wasn't her husband, Jesus knocked down the moral walls that
separated them and offered her living water. He did this because in Christ
there is neither Jew nor Greek; slave nor free; male nor female.
When we Are in
Christ, we Are Blessed to Be a Blessing. Paul wrote, "If you belong to
Christ, you are Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise."
in the movie Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole. It's based on a true story. T.E. Lawrence was a dashing British soldier in World War I who united the Arab tribes and led them in battle against the Turks, who were aligned with the Germans.After the Allied victory, Lawrence was invited to Paris to participate in the peace talks. He took with him several of the Arab leaders who stayed in the same hotel. These desert dwellers never had seen indoor plumbing before. They were amazed that when they turned on the faucet to the bathtub that it filled up with water. They thought it was magic.
in the movie Lawrence of Arabia, starring Peter O'Toole. It's based on a true story. T.E. Lawrence was a dashing British soldier in World War I who united the Arab tribes and led them in battle against the Turks, who were aligned with the Germans.After the Allied victory, Lawrence was invited to Paris to participate in the peace talks. He took with him several of the Arab leaders who stayed in the same hotel. These desert dwellers never had seen indoor plumbing before. They were amazed that when they turned on the faucet to the bathtub that it filled up with water. They thought it was magic.
After the peace talks were
completed, the delegation was preparing to leave. Lawrence was surprised to
discover his Arab friends had removed the faucets from their bathtubs and had
packed them in their luggage. They assumed the faucets themselves were magic and
had produced the water.
Lawrence explained that the
faucets didn't produce the water. They were connected to pipes, which were
connected to a source of fresh water. Once they were disconnected from that
source, they were just empty fixtures.
It is a a powerful parable of
the Christian life! People who find their identity in their religion, race, rank
or by keeping rules are only disconnected faucets; our true worth is found
because of our connection with Jesus Christ. If we are not connected to Jesus
Christ, then you're cut off from the source of life. Jesus said, "I am the way
and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me"
(John
14:7 ).
The ground is level at the foot of
the cross. There's no room for us to feel any sense of superiority above anyone
else, but it also means anyone can come to the cross. The ground is level; there
is no religious mountain of rules and regulations you have to climb. The ground
is level at the foot of the cross. You don't have to have any special status or
position to come to Jesus. There's an old hymn that says: "The ground is level
at the foot of the cross. Anyone may come, for there is no cost. Rich man or
poor man, bonded or free, the ground was leveled that day at
Calvary."
All we need is an invitation.
God's invitation is repeated throughout the Bible. So we wouldn't miss it, He
made one final invitation to us on the very last page of His Book. He said, "The
Spirit and the bride say, ‘Come!' And let him who hears say, ‘Come!' Whoever is
thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the
water of life" (Revelation 22:17 ).
In Christ,
Brown
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