Genesis - Patriarchs: Jacob - week 3

MONDAY STUDY & DEVOTIONAL

When you live in an arid environment, water sources become a big deal. Not only do they provide water to people and animals, but they become a locus around which communities and families can be formed. Here in Genesis 29:1-8, we read that Jacob has arrived at his uncle’s well where the hired shepherds gather his large flocks for watering. Without this source of water, Laban could not survive in the middle eastern desert, let alone his estate and herds of livestock. It is here too that Jacob meets his future wife, Laban’s daughter Rachel.

This parallels when Abraham’s servant, seeking a wife for Isaac, met Rebekah (Gen 24:10-15), and when Moses met his wife Zipporah (Ex 2:15-22). Similarly, it was at a well in Sychar where Jesus sat and spoke with the woman at the well in John 4:1-41. In each case, a person’s life was significantly changed for the better.

This last example reminds us that not only do these water sources bring refreshment, and in some cases marriage, but they also point us to a water source of infinitely greater value. Jesus tells the woman in Sychar “The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). Later, when discussing the messiah, Jesus confirms to her “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:26). Just as Jesus told her, though these places offer a temporary refreshment to our bodies, Jesus as the Living Water offers an eternal satisfaction to our souls.

Yet, as Christians, we too often take this for granted. The human body can go three days without water, but for some reason, we often go much more than that without spending time with Jesus. But it is in Jesus that we have true community. He is the locus around which the church is formed. He is the source of life for every believer. He is the one who gives us good things like spouses, children, and even bodily refreshment. Are you drinking from his well?

REFLECTION & NOTES

How does Jesus offer you true community? What does a Christ-centered community look like?

We all skip spending time with Jesus. Why? What would it look like in our lives if we didn’t?

Where is the center of community in your life? Is it family, church, your home, or somewhere else?