What Jesus Did : John 4:40-41 - Please Stay!
by Phil Ware
Please Stay! - John 4:40-41
The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged Jesus to stay with them. So Jesus stayed there two days. Many more people believed because of the things Jesus said. (ERV) Full TextKey Thought
Some people who saw the powerful work of Jesus in the lives of those they knew asked him to leave. Others tried to take that power and use it selfishly for themselves. Some, like the people in this village, asked him to stay longer so they could know him more completely. God's messengers often find each of these same basic reactions to their message about Jesus—fearful rejection, selfish misappropriation, or a yearning for more of Jesus. Which is your reaction? Do you want Jesus to draw closer to you? Or do you push him away because you want to keep him at arm’s length? Do you sometimes wonder about what and why you believe? Basically, none of us is ever really going to know about Jesus fully until we ask him to come "stay with us" (literally "abide with us"). There is something about inviting Jesus to come stay in our lives that enables us to hear him more clearly and believe in him more passionately. He stands at the door and knocks. Will you invite him in to abide with you so you may learn more from him? (cf. Rev. 3:20)
Today's Prayer
LORD God, the Almighty of Israel, please come live in my heart through faith and help me believe in you more passionately. Please abide in me, O God, for without your presence I would surely fail. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Today's Verses in Context
At that time Jesus' followers came back from town. They were surprised because they saw Jesus talking with a woman. But none of them asked, "What do you want?" or "Why are you talking with her?" Then the woman left her water jar and went back to town. She told the people in town, "A man told me everything I have ever done. Come see him. Maybe he is the Christ. " So the people left the town and went to see Jesus. While the woman was in town, Jesus' followers were begging him, "Teacher, eat something!" But Jesus answered, "I have food to eat that you know nothing about." So the followers asked themselves, "Did somebody already bring Jesus some food?" Jesus said, "My food is to do what the One (God) who sent me wants me to do. My food is to finish the work that he gave me to do. {When you plant} you always say, 'Four more months to wait before we gather the grain.' But I tell you, open your eyes. Look at the {people. They are like} fields ready for harvesting now. Even now, the person that harvests the crop is being paid. He is gathering crops for eternal life. So now the person that plants can be happy together with the person that harvests. It is true when we say, 'One person plants, but another person harvests the crop.' I sent you to harvest a crop that you did not work for. Other people did the work, and you get the profit from their work." Many of the Samaritan people in that town believed in Jesus. They believed because of what the woman had told them about Jesus. She had told them, "He (Jesus) told me everything I have ever done." The Samaritans went to Jesus. They begged Jesus to stay with them. So Jesus stayed there two days. Many more people believed because of the things Jesus said. The people said to the woman, "First we believed in Jesus because of what you told us. But now we believe because we heard him ourselves. We know now that he really is the one that will save the world." Two days later Jesus left and went to Galilee. (Jesus had said before that aprophet is not respected in his own country.)-- John 4:27-44 (ERV)
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