Where can you get this living water? (John 4:11).
Expanded Passage: John 4:10–14
On March 4, 1916, the Washington Post ran a story with the headline: “Curiosity Killed the Cat.” The article reported the tragic story of Mable Godfrey’s cat, Blackie, a house cat who got out of its comfort zone and climbed the flue of the chimney and got stuck. (Once up, whether scaling trees, telephone poles, or chimney flues, cats do not generally descend on their own.) Mrs. Godfrey called the following departments to facilitate a rescue: police, fire, health, building, and the Washington Heights court. Their combined efforts failed. Two days later Blackie was discovered dead after it had fallen, its back broken.
According to Wikipedia, the adage “curiosity killed the cat” was originally adapted by William Shakespeare for a play. Over time, the implication of the saying has been commonly interpreted to suggest, “Don’t stick your nose into everything if you don’t want to get hurt.” Case in point? Blackie. However, one’s curiosity does not always lead to such lethal conclusions.
In the village of Sychar, Jesus offered the woman at the well living water. Her curiosity was piqued and prompted a couple of observations from her: first, the well was deep, and second, he had nothing with which to draw the water. The notion that he could deliver drinking water, let alone living water, intrigued her. Her curiosity prolonged an engaging, robust conversation with Jesus.
Facilitate conversational curiosity to extend explorations concerning Jesus.
Ed Rotz has served The Wesleyan Church as a pastor and district superintendent. He currently works for PastorServe, Inc. and lives in Topeka, Kansas, with his wife, Sharon.
© 2023 Wesleyan Publishing House. Reprinted from Light from the Word. Used by permission. Scriptures taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV®.
