RebornSample

What To Do When You Don’t Belong  

The good news for us is simple: Jesus knows our background, our bloodline, our bad behavior. And He loves us enough to come looking for us because He has something of great value to give us.

To the Samaritan woman at the well, Jesus patiently explained that authentic worship was centered around the motives of the heart. He didn’t argue with her. He listened. He engaged. Her heart was stirred, so much so that she uttered these words to Jesus: “I know that Messiah [called Christ] is coming. When He comes, He will explain everything to us” (John 4:25).

Then Jesus changed her life forever with one simple sentence: “I, the one speaking to you—I am He” (John 4:26).

What a surprise! She was waiting on the Messiah to come, and He had come all the way to Samaria just for her. He dignified an undignified woman by treating her with respect. Hundreds of years of racism and inferiority vanished as she, finally, experienced a man treating her with kindness.

Never underestimate the power of the love of God. People are reborn when they experience unconditional love from God, not when they experience self-righteous religious experts beating them down with a Bible. Hearts are opened to the gospel when people see Jesus for who He really is—a man who’s willing to sit with an outcast woman in the middle of the day and defy all the protocols just to show her she has value to God.

You guessed it. The Samaritan woman was reborn on the spot! She put her trust in Jesus as the Messiah. She was changed in an instant. She no longer cared what anyone thought of her. Her bad reputation was the furthest thing from her mind. She had to tell everyone about this man.

Her boldness led to the salvation of many. John 4:39 says, “Many of the Samaritans from that town believed in Him because of the woman’s testimony, ‘He told me everything I ever did.’”

Here’s an essential point: Jesus doesn’t discriminate based on our background, our behavior, or our bloodline. He comes to where we are. He’s not afraid to be associated with us. He’ll reach out to us when others avoid us. And when we see who He truly is, we automatically change so deeply that we cannot help ourselves. And we want to tell the people we love the most about the Person who changed us and how they can have an encounter with Him too.

Do you tell others about the ways God changed you? Start today.