We start by remembering what we read yesterday. Because it was a passage that wasn’t a narrative story, the children had a harder time remembering. We remember Nicodemus the pharisee, and we recite John 3:16 again.
We come back to a passage that we are familiar with – the story of Jesus and the woman at the well.
Even though it is a familiar story to the children, I know they do not really understand the significance of it yet. I sometimes forget that children are very literal, and it is hard for them to grasp figurative language and deeper spiritual concepts. In a sense, children are very similar to the woman in this story. When she and Jesus talk about living water, they talk past each other, since the woman is thinking about literal water. Give me the water to drink, so I don’t have to keep coming to the well!
Fortunately for the samaritan woman, she starts to understand the true meaning of the living water. Through the conversation, Jesus is showing that her thirst is actually her heart longing for something. She maybe longing for security (in men) or acceptance (among community) or longing for true worship. Jesus says that he is the Messiah to give living water that satisfies her heart. We don’t have to keep searching and going to various wells. Only Jesus will give us true satisfaction of heart.
I don’t know if the boys understand the deeper meaning yet, but they are learning the language and stories of Jesus. I pray that the boys will have their own conversations with Jesus to understand what their thirsts are and to taste Jesus’s sweet satisfying water.
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