He Knows…and He Loves You Anyway by Victoria Osteen

In the book of John, we read about a time when Jesus was at the well called Jacob. He and His disciples had traveled a long way. He was resting at the well while the disciples went to town to find food. As He's resting, He meets a Samaritan woman. It was about noon, which is the hottest part of the day, and she had come with her watering jar to draw water from the well. Jesus began to reach out to her. He was offering her salvation, and she didn't even know it.

As they were having this conversation, Jesus tells her some things about her life. He said, "I know you've been married five times, and the man you are with now is not even your husband." She was amazed! She couldn't believe this man knew everything about her and was still talking to her. He was a Jewish man who wasn't even supposed to be talking to a woman, let alone a Samaritan woman, let alone a Samaritan woman with the background He had just described. But she was so moved that He was offering her something—the chance to be made whole. No one else had offered anything. She was an outcast. That's why she came to the well at noon. The other women would go in the morning when it was cool, but this woman had some things going on in her life. She was hurt. She was ashamed. Then He revealed that He was, in fact, the Messiah people were looking for.

She was so touched that the Bible describes how she left her watering jar right there at the well and ran into town to tell everyone! They were probably shocked, too, and some of them went running back to the well. As Jesus talked to them, they also realized that He was the Messiah, just as He said. He stayed in that town for a couple of days, and many heard and became believers.

I can imagine how amazed this woman was that Jesus knew all about her. He knew her mistakes, sins and shortcomings, and He loved her anyway. Because she received His love, the people around her were transformed as well.

We have to remember that in the humanness of our existence, God knows everything about us. Even on your worst day in the most shameful situation, God knows, and He still loves you. He's drawing close to you. He's offering you living water. He's not ashamed of you; He's reaching out with love. Receive it today and let Him make you new.

"But whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life." (John 4:14, ESV)