The Gospel story of the ‘Woman at the Well’ is full of so many nuggets of wisdom. Some of my favorite phrases include,

“If you knew the gift of God”

AND “a spring of water welling up”

AND “the hour is coming and is now here”

AND “God is Spirit”

AND “Could he possibly be the Christ?”

AND “I have food to eat of which you do not know”

AND “My food is to do the will of the one who sent me and to finish his work”

AND “you are sharing the fruits of their work”

AND “many began to believe because of the word of the woman who testified”

AND “he told me everything I had done”

AND of course the one I chose to highlight, “gathering crops for eternal life”.

I think the phrase, “gathering crops for eternal life” is sticking with me because I imagine that is the ultimate purpose of Jesus’ travels. At each stop, he is checking out the soil and planting seeds.

At this stop in particular, he is arriving at mid-day to meet a woman who should have already been to the well to get water, but she is carrying the weight of shame so she goes when everyone else has already been. He is then granted the opportunity to share with this woman some truths about himself AND about her! She is so overwhelmed by her encounter that she leaves her water jar behind and runs to town to tell the people about this man she just met. She leaves behind more than the jar, but also the shame she carries because she is not afraid to tell others about Jesus!

Jesus ends up staying in the town to help cultivate the seeds. He shares with them more about the gift of God, life giving water and how they must be prepared for salvation is near. This is Jesus doing the work, preparing the fields so when the day comes for him to give his life for us, he will know he did the will of the Father who sent him.

We are called to continue this work, to share the good news and prepare others for the harvest. Our time will come when we are face to face with Jesus, and like the Woman at the well, he will know what we have done, he will know our truths…will you be ready?