Again, I'm just going to focus on the few verses that stuck out to me.
John 4:15 - The woman said to him, "Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water."
I pray that in this time we have a heightened desire for the living water Christ offers. On day 4 I still find myself dying to just have some chicken in my rice. It takes discipline to remind myself that this time of fasting is not about abstaining from the things I want. It's about focusing on the living water I actually need. Just like the woman, I often don't even realize my need for Him. But in the midst of this fast I find myself not sated by veggies, fruits, and grains, even hungry at times, and it's a continual, physical reminder that I need Jesus in a very real way. I pray that drives me to Him and not focusing on my temporary physical need. Besides, Christ goes on to say:
… "I have food to eat that you do not know about." (vs. 32). He piques the disciples curiosity and then tells them that "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his work." (vs. 34). And that is to be our food, too.
Then verse 36 sticks out to me. "Already the one who reaps is receiving wages and gathering fruit for eternal life, so that sower and reaper may rejoice together." Already. Meaning that we will receive blessing here and now for our work on earth. This doesn't mean we will live affluent lives, rather, as the end of the verse states, joy is what is being discussed here. So the blessing we're receiving is the joy of being involved in God's Kingdom coming to earth (which the blessing, mind you, is 100 times whatever we sacrifice for the Kingdom - Mark 10:29-30). And finally, Christ puts the focus on eternity - that glorious time when we will all be united in common love and worship. We will be gathered from every people group and nation, the sower and reaper, the one doing the work unsure of its end result and the one who gets to bring in the harvest. That time, together in eternity, is to be our focus.
Rev 7:9-10 - After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" (ESV)
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