Jake Dudley

I encounter a lot of people every day.

And if you know me, this is great news. People are my thing. I live for people. They are my passion. Encouraging and challenging people is what God has called me to. 

Now, my every day job is at Chick-fil-A (hence how I encounter so many people every day). And because I encounter people, I have a moment to change the course of someone’s day. Whether it’s a simple “have a blessed day” when they are passing through the drive-thru or the Chick-fil-A signature “my pleasure,” the simple act of pouring value into someone can impact people in ways we may not understand. 

Don’t take my word for it, Jesus himself lived his life this way. Whoever he encountered, he poured value and truth into them. While there are MANY examples we can look at, I want to focus on the story of the woman at the well in John chapter 4.

Jesus and his disciples were traveling. They were on their way to Galilee and on the way, they stopped in Samaria at Jacob’s Well. Now, this wasn’t a designated place of ministry for Jesus and the disciples. The only reason they stopped was to rest, buy some lunch and get a drink. This was simply a stop on their way to their destination. But then it gets good…

Jesus encounters a woman. But not just any woman, a Samaritan woman. And not just any Samaritan woman, a Samaritan woman who was a known within the community of being a prostitute. That made this situation pretty interesting. So here, at a place of rest, at a stop on the journey, at a place to gather enough energy to continue moving forward, Jesus begins to invest in a Samaritan woman, who is a prostitue. He begins to tell her of the Living Water he has to offer, the life that it brings and what that means for anyone who drinks of this water. He places value on her and tells her of the things He can do. 

In verse 29 of John 4, the woman leaves her conversation with Jesus saying:

“Come, see a man that told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?”

What’s important about this? People came back to listen. Lots of people. In fact, not only did people come back to listen, but because people came back, Jesus chose to stay. He stayed to invest in people. To speak life into them and give them a taste of the Living Water that he has to offer. He had a destination (Galilee) but chose to invest in the people on that journey first. 

The result?

“Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me all that I ever did.’ So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, ‘It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the savior of the world.”

John 4:39-42 (emphasis added)

You see, there’s a woman at the well waiting for you too. Now, you may not literally have a well on your journey through life, but you do have a job. You do have a family. You do have a regular place for coffee. This woman was just a passer-by. An average, every day, common woman that “happened” to be in the path of Jesus’ journey. And today, there’s going to be another ordinary, common person to cross your path too. There’s a woman at your well. There’s a barista at your Starbucks. There’s your next door neighbor. There’s your wife or your kids. There’s the kid that sits by himself at the lunch table. There’s a co-worker. There’s a roommate. There are people you pass by on your journey. People that matter. People that have a story. People waiting on something. 

They’re all waiting on the life that you’ve been given from Jesus. 

Jesus IS life. Jesus IS love. Jesus IS beautiful. Jesus IS salvation. And we have Jesus in us.

That means we hold the keys to the life Jesus died for us to possess. So give what you have. Give life, love, beauty and salvation to the woman at YOUR well. 

So who is she? Who is the woman at your well? Who is the person that needs the Jesus you have?