What is your jar?

Question to think about: What needs to be let go of in order to live free from the limitations of the circumstances of the day?

I don't know about you . . . but listening to the news is challenging if not discouraging. It seems that the media is participating in a competition with one another to find the dirt and darkness in this world like nobody's business. Do you ever wonder if the response of listeners plays into the drama of the day?

The thing is . . . our response to life is what changes the world.

John wrote about Jesus in an era of difficulties and challenges, ending his book with the statement: There are so many other things Jesus did. If they were all written down, each of them, one by one, I can't imagine a world big enough to hold such a library of books. (John 21:25, The Message)This statement tells the reader an important fact: what is necessary to understand about Jesus and life has been included in the story.

In chapter 4, John includes some necessary details. It is necessary to understand that it was unusual to speak to a woman in the culture of the ancient days. The scene between Jesus and the woman at the well revealed the radical revolution that began through what Christ did. It is also necessary to realize that it was unusual for the disciples not to question the woman for speaking to Jesus; they did not impose their perspective on the woman. And, John included a minute detail of the woman's response . . . she left her jar: Just then his disciples came. They were astonished that he was speaking with a woman, but no one said, "What do you want?" or, "Why are you speaking with her?"
Then the woman left her water jar and went back to the city . . . (John 4:27-28, NRSV)

The power in the conversation with Jesus went beyond the norms of the culture . . . went beyond the restrictions of humanity . . . value was given to an individual that knew no value . . . she received it . . . the business of the day changed.

The circumstances had not changed; however, confronted by Jesus, the woman changed. "She left her jar." There is such power in the minute detail of the woman leaving her jar and that she would actually return to the city. Nothing had changed. No one thought any different of her; however, she faced her circumstances, returning to the city because she had changed. Couldn't this be categorized as a miracle?
Setting down "our jar" is a miracle. We can face circumstances when we change.
What is your jar?
Set the jar down. Leave the jar.
Face the circumstances knowing you are changed through the presence, power, and peace of Christ.

Learning with you to set the jar down and to leave it,
Shalom,
Kerrie
(All devotions written by Kerrie Palmer ©2008 All Rights Reserved)