January 16, 2023
Daily Devotion:
"Embrace and Love Yourself "
Deuteronomy 7:7-8
The Lord did not care for you and chose you because there were many of you-you are the smallest nation of all. But the Lord chose you because he loved you, and he kept his promise to your ancestors.
If Ever there was a person who had reasons to struggle with their self-image, it was the woman who met Jesus at the well as recorded in John 4.
First of all, she was a Samaritan. In Jesus' day, the Jews despised all Samaritans as religious infidels and “halfbreeds." When Israel Was conquered by the Babylonians in 586 B.C. the youngest and most educated were taken into captivity. When their descendants returned to Jerusalem seventy years later, they expected to find a thriving center of worship and faith. Instead, many who had been left behind converted to other religions and married people from other countries. They were despised from that moment on.
Second, she was a woman, which meant she had second-class status in her culture and was viewed as the "property" of her husband.
Third, she had failed at love. Jesus asked her where her husband was. She admitted she wasn't married, but was living with a man. Jesus pointed out she had previously been married six times! Whether a serial widow or divorcee, she had probably given up on marital vows.
Fourth, she was rejected by her peers. Jesus met her during the hottest time of the day with no one else around her. The women of Middle East villages gathered water at the well together during the coolest part of the day.
But when Jesus entered her life, everything changed. He took the initiative and spoke to her first, uncommon for a man to do in that culture. In the same way, He reaches out to us long before we reach toward Him. He looked at her as a person on the basis of her potential-not her past or even her present circumstances. Most importantly, He offered her a living water that would satisfy the emptiness and longing of her soul, a drink of water that would provide renewal for her parched soul and life.
Even if you feel as needy as a lonely Samaritan at a well today, be assured that Jesus provides you with all the reasons you need to love and embrace yourself.
