Daily Affirmations - Day 4 - Where the People Are - In Dry, Parched Lands
- Alisa B.
- Sep 9, 2025
- 2 min read
Day 4: In dry, parched lands
Just then [Jesus’] disciples returned and were surprised to find Him talking with a woman. But no one asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?” (John 4:27).
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - John 4:27
They are surprised, not at His talking with a Samaritan, but at His talking in public with a woman, which was directly contrary to the Rabbinic precepts. The words of the Law were to be burnt rather than taught to a woman. A man should not speak in public to his own wife.
Lord of all, You teach us in Your word, There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Galatians 3:28 NKJV). And, living among us, You showed us in practicality, by example, what that looks like.
Into a world where pride, power, and self-interest are incorporated into culture, systems, institutions and traditions, You brought a revolutionary new way of thinking, and of being, and of interacting. You came and taught us how to live Your kingdom principles— humility and poverty of spirit, godly sorrow over the evil within and around us, meekness, mercy, purity, a deep longing for uprightness and integrity, an active seeking to bring peace, and a spirit of love and forgiveness (Matthew 5).
But to our human ears, warped and distorted by the selfishness and pride that arise from sin, they sound strange, and to many, laughable. We desire the benefits without the principles. Yet, they are the blueprint for all that we long for in life— the relationships we desire, the stability we crave, the peace we desperately seek.
And those who encounter You— You who are the full embodiment and expression of these radical kingdom values— recognize their true significance; for they discover a quality unlike any in this world. It was this quality that prompted the Samaritan woman to ask, "Could this be the Messiah?"
Although "every thing she ever did" (John 4:29) had likely been the basis for years of social sanctions and judgment, she found something completely different in the unconventional Stranger who lifted the veil from her life. And now her overflowing excitement prompted her to tell her entire town about Him.
O Lord Jesus, there is none like You, in whom we can find full acceptance and grace. Thank You that You come to us wherever we are. In deliberate grace and intentional love You meet us in our inadequacy, isolation, ostracization, judgment, loneliness, hurt, pain. You meet us in our dry and parched lands with our broken cisterns (Jeremiah 2:13) and our defensive philosophies (Luke 4:19,25). And You offer us living water— welling up to eternal life (John 4:10, 14).
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