seventh well

haven't really had any profound new thoughts lately, so i thought it was time to post another of my older poems just for the heck of it.  this one is one of my favorites.  it's based on John chapter 4 and the story of the woman at the well.  written february 15, 1997

seventh well

outcast alone in burning thirst i come.
five before are gone and dried,
each look in the mirror tells me why
to the sixth to toil, draw temporal taste of love.
calloused feet by midday sun are numb.
a man sits there with strange deep eyes;
my ugly face and shame i try to hide,
with nothing to draw from the well's deep He's come
asking me to quech His thirst.
i timidly step to ask Him why.
knowing my sin from last to first
yet in my simple truth a smile He finds.
i see in His eyes true love submersed.
He sees past my lies, never again to thirst.



i find it interesting that the number 7 in the Bible represents completeness and perfection.  this woman that was at the well had had 5 husbands before and was now living with a man that was not her husband.  so she had been with at least 6 lovers and then Jesus came along.  she, like many of us, had been digging wells all her life to try to tap into some kind of love that would satisfy her thirst.  but they all came up dry.  and then there was Jesus.  He was her seventh well.  He came offering her a drink that would satisfy her eternally.  He was offering His love.  His salvation.  His Spirit.  His truth.  and He offers the same to us unconditionally.  He is a well of Living Water that will never run dry and will satisfy us perfectly and completely.  so let's throw down our shovels over the drought-stricken land we've been digging in for so long and go tap into the well of His infinitely deep love. 

John 7:38 "Whoever believes in me as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."  

thank you Jesus for being my Seventh Well.