Empty Jars

“He sat wearily by the well…it was about the sixth hour {noon}…Jesus replied, ‘Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.’” John 4:6,13.

When my daughter was entrenched in her lifestyle of drugs, my goal for each day was to operate within my life incognito, anonymous and isolated. Her life was a very public journey in a small community which triggered every insecurity I had ever thought about having in my life. I would not only choose certain times to go in public, but I would drive outside of the community to accomplish most simple errands. My heart was shot and so was my insecurity.

I hear of another woman who went out of her way and community to meet her daily needs. She ran her errands where she knew she would not be met with rejection, judgmentalness, and the condescending eyes of her peers. She was the Samaritan woman at the well who ‘bumped into Jesus.’ ‘Two facts were unusual about the woman’s actions: (1) she could have gone to a closer well (scholars have identified wells that were closer to Sychar); (2) women generally drew water later in the day, when the temperature was cooler. This woman, whose reputation seems to have been well known in the small town, probably chose the well farther away from home and went at an unusual time.’ Life Application Study Bible, p. 388.

Now I’m confused…is he talking about me or the woman at the well…or maybe he is talking about you. We all carry empty jars within our hearts that we constantly seek refilling. When our insecurities deplete us we place our jars on the shoulders of others expecting them to fill us up. We go out of our way to find unsustaining water from so many different sources. While it might temporarily quench our thirst our parched hearts will return to dehydration.

We can only look towards the Living Waters to fill us up with God’s truth of who we are. We are not defined by our circumstances nor are we defined by the sum of what we have done. He does not remind us of our flaws and weaknesses but promises to use us beyond our insecurities. The Samaritan woman had been married four times before and was presently with another man. What does this tell me? She carried her empty heart to five different sources who were not equipped to sustain, fill up and make her whole. Each unfulfilled experience was met with deeper insecurity and deeper hopelessness. If we are searching for others to fill us up we will go further and further away from the only genuine source of Water. When we lay our insecurities at the base of the Living Well we can lay our empty jars down and hold our heads up high.

…and when we lift our face to Jesus we take our focus off of our emptiness.