Just Drop It

“The woman then left her water pot…” (John 4:28)

Ever meet know someone who is constantly living in the past? The kind of person with a rear view mirror mentality.Can't let things drop? Jesus was such an attraction that when people met Him they had to drop what they were doing, they dropped what was in their hands, dropped everything to follow Him. It was impossible to do both. His magnetism was so strong that it summoned all faculties. Earthly concerns were weakened and cancelled out. Peter, Andrew, James and John let their fishing nets drop. “They immediately left their nets and followed him” (Matthew 4:20). That would include net worth, net gain, net income and all other nets.Our hands have to be free to receive heavenly gifts.

The Samaritan woman let her water pot drop. She had returned empty to Jacob’s well day after day after day. Married five times and living with the sixth she knew how momentary and unsatisfying earthly thrills were. Her bucket was symbolic of her life. She would leave full but return empty. Drugs, booze, pleasure, money, sex, boats,cars,they all are like the water pot. Hebrews says the pleasure of sin is at best “for a season”.Yeah sin can be a blast for a moment,but what happens (cue BB king) "When the thrill is gone'? Jesus offered her “living water” that would be in her “a well springing up into everlasting life” (John 4:14). She came with a empty bucket but left with the whole well. With new energy, excitement and a new lease on life she let her water pot drop and ran to town proclaiming, “Come see a man that told me all things that I ever did”. If you want to be well, you have to let your past drop.

Another character, Bartimaeus, let his beggar’s garment drop. He didn’t need that identity any longer. “And throwing aside his garment, he rose and came to Jesus” (Mark 10:50). Elisha did the same when he took his clothes “and tore them into two pieces” (2 Kings 2:12) in preparation to receive Elijah’s mantle of power. To receive the new we must discard the old. We can’t gain the new life while clutching the old life. Let it drop. The disciples had to drop old methods. Before they caught fish, now they would catch men,The Samaritan woman had to drop old habits and living patterns. She had trekked the trail to the well in Sychar same time, same route, same routine, for probably years. It is difficult to drop a bad habit.But we have to let our water pots drop.The things that enslave us,the sin,the weight that does so easily beset us. Try letting go of your coffee pot. That will prove the dominance of daily routine. When circumstance, perceived reality, the cynics and skeptics and even your own self sees you as a blind beggar, you become a blind beggar. The prejudices you hold on to, the fears, the security blankets, nets, water pots and acquired mindsets must be dropped. Pry your fingers loose if you must like the woman at the well: Jesus saw something in her, that made her see something in Him.His living water can’t be embraced with the water pot of the past still in your hand.............

PB-