Must you bring it up again?
The woman had come to the well to draw water during the hottest part of the day. She probably came at this most inopportune moment because she was not likely to run into any of the other women in town who came during the cooler part of the day. What was she afraid of? Maybe she was scared someone would bring something up from her past. She’d been through five marriages and now was with a man who was not her husband. She was not expecting to see Jesus resting at the well in the heat of the day. She had to let her water jug descend into that hole in the ground her ancestor had dug up. Every day she had to bring up something from down below. Jesus surprised her by asking for a drink for Himself. It was very inappropriate for a Jew to speak to a woman like her, but He didn’t let decorum stop Him. She pushed back, knowing He must be only joking. No one like Him would drink out of a pitcher or cup owned by a person like her. He seemed to see the humor in the situation and said, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is who says to you, ‘Give Me a drink,’ you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water.” (John 4:10). She laughed and said, “Sir, You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do You get that living water?” She was used to living on the stuff that kept being brought up. He wanted to give Her something fresh and new from above.
Stop bringing it back up
What is your life source? Do you feed on what came from your ancestors? Does your family tree include gossip, drunkenness, bitterness, anger, lust, selfishness, or pride? Do you or others keep bringing up that which is below the surface? If you find yourself continually “bringing it back up” you need Jesus. You do not have to survive off a pit from the past. Don’t let tradition or shame continually shape your identity. You are a new creature in Christ by faith. He offers you life-giving water. He offers you a new story, from above, not from beneath. You do not have to live off what has filtered through whatever your family members have dug up. Change your family tree. Take a fresh drink. Get a new life source by drinking deeply of the living water of Jesus—the gift of His Spirit. If you have not received the Holy Ghost, God’s life-giving Spirit, then this promise is for you and your whole family (See Acts 2:4, 38-39). If you have received this gift, then live in it, leave your water pot behind, and choose to live by the source from above. You don’t have to ever thirst again.