One hot day, Jesus was walking through a town called Samaria. The sun was shining bright, and the birds sang sweet songs in the trees. Jesus was tired from His journey, so He sat down by a well. A well is a deep hole in the ground where people get water to drink.
A woman came to the well to get water. She was surprised to see Jesus there because Jews and Samaritans usually did not talk to each other. Jesus looked at her with kind eyes and said, “Please, give me a drink.” The woman was surprised and asked, “Why do you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?”
Jesus smiled gently and said, “If you knew the gift God gives, and who I am, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” The woman looked confused. She asked, “Living water? Where can I get this water? Will I never be thirsty again?” Jesus explained that the water He gives is special. It fills your heart and never makes you thirsty again.
The woman thought about this. She said, “Please give me this water, so I won’t be thirsty or have to come here to get water.” Jesus then told her about her life. He said, “You have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband.” The woman was amazed that Jesus knew about her story.
She said, “Sir, you must be a prophet!” Jesus told her, “The time is coming when people will worship God, not just here at this well or in a special place, but everywhere. God wants people to worship Him with their hearts.” The woman was happy to hear this.
She left her water jar and ran to tell the people in her town, “Come and see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he be the Christ, the one who saves us?” The people listened and came to see Jesus. Many believed in Him because of what the woman said.
Jesus showed love to the woman and helped her understand God’s gift. He wants us all to have this living water that fills our hearts with joy and peace forever.
Questions to think about
- Why was the woman surprised that Jesus talked to her?
- What is the living water Jesus talked about?
- How did Jesus show He knew the woman’s story?
- What did the woman do after talking with Jesus?
- How can we have the living water Jesus gives?
Message of the story
Jesus loves everyone and wants to give us living water that fills our hearts with joy and never leaves us thirsty.
Bible passage
John 4:1-42 (World English Bible)
1 Now Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard that he was gaining and baptizing more disciples than John—
2 (although Jesus himself didn’t baptize, but his disciples did)—
3 so he left Judea and went back again to Galilee.
4 He had to go through Samaria.
5 So he came to a town in Samaria called Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
6 Jacob’s well was there. Jesus, tired from the journey, was sitting by the well. It was about the sixth hour.
7 A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.”
8 (His disciples had gone into the town to buy food.)
9 The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask me, a Samaritan woman, for a drink?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.)
10 Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked
