Thirst Quenching

INTRO: This Christian poem is based on the Bible Story of The Woman at the Well. It is the first in ‘The Women of the Bible’ series. Beverley Joy. I wrote it while I was a Prison Chaplain in the Women’s Prison. I would recite a poem for the women during the chapel services. John 4:7-30, 39-45

PODCAST – Thirst Quenching

She signed as she picked up her water jar

And left her bustling town behind

The midday sun beat down on her

Sweat fell as droplets on her hand.

A group of men passed her by

She did not expect a nod or a ‘Hi’

She overheard their conversation

They talked of God, Oh, religious men.

She looked up toward her destination

And saw a man sitting at the well

Weary, no doubt, from his long journey

A foreigner resting as he passed by.

In silence, she approached to draw water

In a sideways glance, she noticed his clothing

Not just a stranger but an enemy

Of racial tension and cultural law.

“Give me a drink” gently came the words

She looked at his friendly eyes

Confused she questioned him

“Why ask me? Our races don’t speak.”

“You don’t know the gift

God has come to give.”

He said to her in a caring voice.

“If you knew who I am

You would ask me for a drink

The water I give will quench forever

Your endless craving and thirst.”

“Sir, where will you get this special ‘water’?

The well is deep so how will you draw?”

She paused in thought, then said proudly

“Are you greater than our ancestor?”

“He built this well many years ago

He drank from it, and generations more

Have quenched their thirst

From this sacred well.”

He did not defend or disrespect

But continued to talk about his ‘water’

He had a gift he wanted to give

And to feed her curiosity.

“Everyone who drinks water from this well

Must always come back for more

But anyone who drinks my water

Forever, their thirst will be quenched.

“The water I give will flow through you

Not just a trickle, or light spring rain

No. A roaring river full and strong.

“Does he know of a river nearby?” She thought

“In a secret location, unknown to me?”

“Give me this water that I may drink

To save me walking in the midday heat.”

“Go home,” He said, “and return with your husband.”

She paused and thought before she spoke

“But I don’t have a husband, Sir.”

“You’re right” he replied. “You’ve had five.”

Suddenly, her life is laid out and exposed

Married since 14. Divorced by the men

A common practice and easy to get

Two was accepted but five was shunned.

Her best years lived with rejection

A social outcast on all levels

Her ethnicity, divorce and loose morals

Her craving for faithful love never met.

Her community knew of her troubled life

The women would gather at the well

In the cooling breeze of early evening

But she came alone in the midday sun.

“Who is this man? This stranger? She thought

Had someone told him about me?

Or is he a messenger of God

Like those in the Old Testament?”

She proudly replied, “This place is holy.”

“Our forefathers worshipped God right here

Your people believe that your city is

The only place to worship and pray.”

“You don’t understand”, he replied

“For your knowledge of God is limited

My people understand for they have been taught

But they have kept it all to themselves.”

“The time is coming and is now, here

When it won’t be about the location

For God, the Creator of all mankind

Must be worshipped in spirit and truth.”

She continued to chat with the teacher

Forgetting about protocol

“I believe one day Christ, the Messiah,

Will come to explain it all.”

“That day has come.” He gently spoke

“I am the one that you’ve been waiting for

Stop looking, my dear. Stop waiting for him

God’s gift is me, Jesus Christ.”

She starred in silence, stunned by his words

She stood in reverence before Him

The Christ, the Messiah, God’s Chosen One

The Saviour of the world.

What did it matter how thirsty she felt

What did it matter how shameful her past

All that mattered was this very moment

That had changed her life forever.

Here He sat in dusty clothes

Drinking from her earthen cup

He deserved a goblet made of gold

Royal robes and a throne.

Her craving for love and faithfulness

The longing deep in her heart

Human love could not satisfy

But God’s love had quenched her thirst.

Excitement filled her mind

She left her water jar

And ran back to her town

To tell others to come to meet Him.

She ran past the same group of men

As she did on her way to the well

They mumbled “What’s going on out here?

Why has Jesus been speaking with her?”

But they dared not ask Jesus that question

For He often talked to people like her

People that society abused and rejected

Criminals, prostitutes, the poor and unwell.

Breathless she announces in the city square

“I’ve met a man who told me my past

He told me he’s the Christ, the anointed one

Could this be the Saviour of the world?”

Some people believed her

Many went to see him

They begged him to stay

With them a few days.

Most people wanted Jesus to heal them

But they wanted Him to teach them

To explain God’s Salvation plan

For the broken world they lived in.

He stayed and taught them patiently

They accepted the gift that he gave

His love to quench their thirsty souls

And open their eyes to the Truth.

Jesus waits to meet with you

Come, rest in the shade of his love

Drink deeply of His gift of Truth

You’ll find it in His Word.

Read His stories in your Bible

Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John

Listen to Him, get to know Him

Because, in Jesus, you can trust.

Read or listen to my poems of Women of the Bible: It Takes Two To Tango The Adulterous Woman of John 8:1-11, She Gave From Her Heart The Woman and the Two Coins Luke 21:1-4, Sweet Temptation Eve Genesis 3, Feast or Famine Ruth and I Am Ruth, ‘Thirst Quenching’ The Woman at the Well, Mary – The Christmas Story Part 2 Four Unusual Women, Part 4 Mary, The Christmas Story Part 5 Mary and Elizabeth, The Busyness Excuse Mary and Martha, Her Touch of Simple Faith The women with the bleeding issue,