June 28, 2024 Devo

June 28th, 2024

“It’s All About Jesus!”
“The Woman at the Well”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me, why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship, while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors worshiped?” – John 4:19-20 (NLT)
“Stop Changing the Subject”

Don’t you love this? Jesus just pulled back the curtain on this woman’s life and exposed her deepest, darkest secrets. He brought her face-to-face with the place in her life that she really needed to see, really needed to deal with, and really needed to have healed. But instead of leaning into it and seizing the moment as a life-changing opportunity, she took the coward’s way out. She changed the subject. Instead of confessing her sin, facing her loneliness, and asking Jesus to bring healing and wholeness to her life, she tried to bait Him into an argument about which mountain was the right mountain to worship God on. It was the old, “too close for comfort two-step.” It’s a dance that many of us know all too well.
I can’t even begin to tell you how many times I’ve witnessed this through the years in ministry. Counseling starts hitting too close to home, and suddenly the person being counseled is too busy to come in anymore. Preaching starts touching points of conviction, and suddenly that person is looking for another church because “they’re not being fed.” People want to talk about end times, angels and spirits, or debate who wrote the Book of Hebrews, ANYTHING…as long as it doesn’t have anything to do with their failing marriage, their anger issues, or why they’re so distant from God. Touch the place where people really NEED to be touched by God, and watch how fast they want to talk about something altogether different.
But you can’t dodge God. You can pray about anything you want to and try to dominate the conversation so that He doesn’t have a chance to speak, but it won’t change anything. He’ll keep whispering to you about that wound you haven’t healed, that sin you haven’t confessed, and that attitude that needs adjustment. God loves you way too much to allow you to stay the way you are. So, go ahead and come before Him today with whatever it is you want to talk about. But when HE speaks, listen. Whatever it is He wants to talk to you about is for your good, to make you better, and to help you become who you truly want to be. That’s why changing the subject really doesn’t work with God. Because for Him, the subject will always be YOU! That’s God’s Word for you today.