The Seventh Man
“The Seventh Man”
by Pastor Alli Munsey
“Jesus answered, “If you drink from Jacob’s well you’ll be thirsty again and again, but if anyone drinks the living water I give them, they will never thirst again and will be forever satisfied! For when you drink the water I give you it becomes a gushing fountain of the Holy Spirit, springing up and flooding you with endless life!” - John 4:13-14 (TPT)
In John 4, we learn the story of the Samaritan woman. Jesus goes out of his way to meet an unnamed woman in Samaria who has gone to draw water at high noon so as to avoid other people as much as possible.
The woman was avoiding people because she was an outcast, but Jesus meets her in her pain. We often look to hide when we're in pain. But Jesus shows up in the middle of our pain. Even when we're not looking for the love of God, the love of God is looking for us.
Jesus acknowledges this woman’s past, that she has had five marriages and is now living with a sixth man who is not her husband. Six is the number of man’s labor, incomplete. When she met the seventh man, Jesus, something changed. Seven is the number of spiritual completion.
Jacob’s well is a representation of man's way of doing life, man’s source. We have to draw from the source of living water. Jesus is our spiritual completion, and he is everything we need. All we have to do is drink from the living water--he is our source.
Jesus is teaching us to draw from the living source instead of drawing on our own strength. When we find that we're discontent and depleted, it's because we're drawing from the wrong source. What source are you drawing from today?
Being near the well is not good enough. The person whose thirst is quenched does not just study the water but drinks it. Imagine your life from a place of overflow. When you spend time with Jesus, it changes the way you do life, the way you do relationship-- it changes everything.
When Jesus sat by the well he was signaling that he was going to be her source from now on. When we encounter Jesus, he's going to sit by some things that we'd rather him not get involved with. He will sit next to our sin, our pain, our struggle, and invite us to come to him instead.
When we find that we’re lacking the power to overcome, the reason is that we have not drunk from the source. Jesus didn't come for you to live in bondage; Jesus came so that you could be a boss! The devil only has power where we let him. When you live from the place of victory, it changes the way you engage life.
Jesus loves you, and he's already given you victory. His love is unfair--even when we don't deserve his acknowledgment, Jesus looks at us as his best.
The woman dropped her jar and went to tell her entire town about Jesus. She was the first New Testament evangelist to win a city for Christ. When we drop the natural, we can pick up the spiritual calling on our life.
When we draw from the natural, we'll always be going back for more, but when we live from Jesus as our source, we'll always live from overflow.
Look to Jesus for completion. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, we won't fail, we won't fall, and he will give us the vision to overcome. He uses us in spite of ourselves. He gives us everything we need to complete the purpose he has for us.
Discussion/Reflection Questions:
What source are you drawing your strength from today?
Are there any areas of your life where Jesus wants to meet you in your pain?
Is there anything in your life that Jesus might be sitting next to and inviting you to come to him instead as your source?
What is the spiritual calling on your life that Jesus is calling you to instead?
How can you allow Jesus to be your source and bring completion in your relationships, finances, career and family?