“The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25 NLT There is a story in the Bible about Jesus interacting with a Samaritan woman. They meet at a very well-known well. Jesus goes to the well to get some water. He has been traveling and teaching and healing for quite some time. Jesus decides to take a short cut through Samaria, which was not a choice many good Jews would have made. He stops at this well for one simple purpose, to be refreshed. As he is waiting by the well the Samaritan woman arrives. She is there to get her supply of water for the day. Jesus engages in some conversation with her and asks for her to draw him some water to drink. It is a deep and meaningful conversation. Jesus explains to her the true meaning of worship and the true nature of God’s desire to give abundant life. As Jesus explains this to her he uses the imagery of the well and the water drawn from it. He says if anyone drinks from this well they will be thirsty again later. Jesus contrasts that truth with a new truth. He tells her that anyone who drinks from the water he gives will never thirst again. Then it happens! The woman’s reaction is telling. She hears everything Jesus has to say and she is amazed. The woman asks Jesus to give her the living water of which he speaks. She tells Jesus that she knows the Messiah is coming and Jesus tells her He is the Messiah. That is when she leaves her jar and heads home. She is so excited that she forgets about getting the water she had come out to draw. She wants to tell everyone she can about Jesus. She wants others to feel the same thing she has experienced from Jesus. Without a drink of water her thirst has been quenched. You can tell by her knowledge of Scripture that she is thirsty. Jesus gives her the living water by revealing himself to her. What an amazing exchange that was and what an amazing experience with God for the Samaritan woman. There is at least one last thing to notice about this story. Jesus came to the well to rest and be refreshed. Jesus asked the woman to draw him some water to drink so that he could be refreshed for his journey. Did you notice in the story that neither the woman nor Jesus get a drink of water? They both came to get water to drink and that didn’t happen. What did happen is that they were both refreshed. Jesus was living the example of Proverbs 11:25, “The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.” Jesus came to Jacob’s well seeking a drink of water, yet he gave generously to the Samaritan woman from the well of living water. He refreshed her spirit. She left the well more refreshed than if she had drank the whole jar of water. In turn, Jesus is refreshed in knowing that he has accomplished what the Father had sent him to accomplish. He offered her abundant life through him. We should seek to live out Proverbs 11:25, just like Jesus. We should be looking for ways to offer living water to others. We should be generous with the resources which God has given us for this mission. The challenge is to give all we can for the mission of Jesus Christ. We are to give all of our resources, our gifts, our talents, our abilities, our money, and ourselves for this high and holy calling. When we give we are refreshed. There is something pretty amazing that happens when we are willing to be generous with all that God has blessed us. It is my prayer that we will be people who look for ways to refresh others. If we will … we will be refreshed. This Sunday we will conclude the message series Money Rules. I will be discussing Money Rule #4 and how important it is to give all you can. I look forward to sharing with you Sunday. It’s exciting to see what happens when we follow God’s Money Rules for our finances. I can’t wait to see you in church!