Do you know the gift God has for you?

John 4:10 NLT

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.”
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If you only knew the gift God has for you!

God has a gift for you. Do you want it?

Life had not been secure for the woman Jesus is speaking to here in John 4. This woman that Jesus meets at the well was born on the wrong side of the tracks. She was a Samaritan,  not a Jew nor a Gentile. She was seen as an outcast by both the cultures surrounding her. But this woman's problems run a bit deeper. In this time and place a woman's security came from either her place in a family or marriage. But this lady had been married five times and currently wasn't married to the man she was living with. So her financial security and her social standing was quite low. No family would associate with her since she was without honor. So presumably she would be living day to day making do with the 'gifts' various men might give her. Most likely no man would commit to 'taking care of her' so her future would be very uncertain.

Finding a Samaritan man to talk with her would have been unlikely but to have Jesus a Jew and obviously a rabbi asking her for something was shocking. But Jesus asks her for a drink. And then tells her of God's gift.

Jesus says God has a gift for her.

And this gift isn't short lived. This is a gift that will give her security. It's not too sappy to say this is the gift that keeps on giving. An internal well of living water springing up to eternal life.
Now that's some gift. Water represented work. You had to lift it from deep in the ground and water is heavy. You had to carry it to drink, to wash, to prepare food. This woman may have had more than her fair share of uncleanness so washing with this water may have taken up a lot of her precious drinking water. What a blessing to have fresh water that didn't require all that work. And since her standing in the village wasn't very high she would have to draw her water from the well after everyone else had gotten their daily supply.
This gift being offered by God according to Jesus is incredible.

But what Jesus reveals to this woman is even more incredible. If you had been reading the Gospels carefully you'd notice that demons know that Jesus is the Messiah but Jesus doesn't want the demons to be the ones to publicise his true identity and not yet. So when Jesus reveals who he is to this woman it is extraordinary. He knows who she is and he has told her who he is. He is the Messiah.

What looks like a gift of water becomes eternal life and what looks like a gift of notice and acknowledgement turns out to be perhaps the greatest revelation from God these people will ever know. And God gives this gift of revelation to this woman. So far John the Baptist his cousin has suggested he is the Messiah and the disciples have wondered if he was the Messiah. At the wedding Jesus tells his mother, his time has not yet come. But to this woman, Jesus is clear and unequivocal,  he says, 'I am the Messiah!'

And today Jesus is reminding you that your security isn't in this world. It isn't in your social standing. It isn't in your financial arrangements or your persistence or hard work. Your security isn't in your identity or your reputation. Your security can only be in Jesus. He is the living water, he is the One sent from God. He is the one who knows all you've ever done and he is the one who reveals his identity to you. When you know who he is it doesn't matter who you are. And knowing him and who he is changes everyone's perception of you.

God has got a gift for you. God's gift for you is himself.

Will you leave what you are doing and tell others about him?
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John 4:10-30 NLT

Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “But sir, you don’t have a rope or a bucket,” she said, “and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And besides, do you think you’re greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals enjoyed?” Jesus replied, “Anyone who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again.  But those who drink the water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring within them, giving them eternal life.” “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her. “I don’t have a husband,” the woman replied. Jesus said, “You’re right! You don’t have a husband— for you have had five husbands, and you aren’t even married to the man you’re living with now. You certainly spoke the truth!” “Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem.  You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews.  But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.  For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” The woman said, “I know the Messiah is coming—the one who is called Christ. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus told her, “I Am the Messiah!” Just then his disciples came back. They were shocked to find him talking to a woman, but none of them had the nerve to ask, “What do you want with her?” or “Why are you talking to her?” The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to the village, telling everyone, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?” So the people came streaming from the village to see him.