The woman at the well had met Jesus for the first time.  He had asked her for a drink of water from the well to which she had came.  Jesus had offered her water that would give her everlasting life with peace and joy in the presence of God.

While Jesus was speaking with her, He told her all about her life.  She had had four failed marriages, and the man with whom she was presently living was not her husband.  She believed Jesus, trusted Him with her life.  Her first response was to go into the city and tell as many as she could and many of them believed, because of her personal testimony, and then, we have them saying,

“Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard Him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.”  John 4:42 (KJV).

They had believed her enough to go and meet the Man she told them about.  When they meet Jesus they put their whole faith in Him.

Faith is not something you gain by the words of others.  It is what you gain by meeting Jesus personally.  There are many who believe they are “Christian” because their parents, or grandparents were.  There are even some who believe they are “Christian”, because they were born in the United States of America, and because of that “Of course they are Christian”.  That is not true.  None of these cases makes one “Christian”.

If you were born in a garage would that make you a car?  To become “Christ-like” which is the meaning of the word “Christian” requires receiving personal faith in Jesus Christ, and that is a gift He alone gives.  Someone once told me, “God has no grandchildren”, and is that ever a true statement.  Trust Christ for yourself.  You will not know Him, nor will He know you if you are resting on the coattails of someone else.

-Tim A. Blankenship