One night, at a Wednesday evening testimony meeting at my Christian Science branch church, the account of Jesus’ encounter with the Samaritan woman was part of the Bible readings (see John 4). As I listened to this story, I had a new appreciation for this illuminating example of spiritual readiness. I asked myself, “What if, in the course of my prayers, the Christ, Truth, comes to my thinking and I am made aware of my shortcomings? Would I be ready to change?”
In the story, Jesus and the woman met at “Jacob’s well.” I doubt the woman was anticipating anything extraordinary as she went about her routine tasks. Yet, when she found herself in the presence of the Messiah, Christ Jesus, she embraced his message wholeheartedly.
Jesus asked the woman for a drink. She responded with surprise because Jews didn’t typically socialize with Samaritans. He then engaged her in a conversation about “living water,” or the Christ, Truth, which he taught. The woman asked for this living water, so that she, too, would never again thirst.
