Bible in a Year - Women’s Thematic Reading Plan | Day 73

Day 73 of the Women’s Bible Plan: Read John 4:27-42 and reflect on the Samaritan woman, who met Jesus at the well, left her waterpot behind, and returned to the city to testify about Him. Through her story, this devotional helps women learn how a life that has been known, received, and renewed by the Lord can move from shame and hiding into witness and invitation. 

🌸  Dear Sister, welcome to Day 73 of our reading journey. 

Some people come to the Lord not with a polished story, but with a broken one. They do not come carrying the praise of others, but the hidden weight of shame, loneliness, and self-protection. The Samaritan woman was such a person. She came to the well at noon, away from the crowds, perhaps because she did not want to face the eyes and whispers of others.

Yet Jesus was there, waiting for her. He did not condemn her with human judgment. He did not avoid her because of her background, past, or wounds. Jesus spoke with her about living water, touched the deepest thirst of her life, and revealed Himself to her as the Christ.

Today’s passage shows us a beautiful transformation. The woman who had come alone to draw water later left her waterpot, returned to the city, and testified to the people. She moved from hiding to invitation, from shame to witness, from being someone people may have talked about to someone who led many toward Jesus.

A Minute of Grace

John 4:27-42 continues the story of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well. When the disciples returned, they were surprised to see Jesus speaking with a woman, yet no one asked Him what He was seeking or why He was speaking with her. At that moment, the Samaritan woman left her waterpot, went into the city, and said to the people, “Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?”

This action is deeply moving. She had come to the well to draw water, yet after meeting Jesus, she left her waterpot behind. The waterpot represented her daily need, but it may also remind us of the many ways she had been trying to satisfy a deeper thirst. She came to the well for water, but after meeting the Lord, she discovered that the deeper thirst within her heart had been touched by Jesus.

What is even more striking is that she returned to the city to testify. This woman may have once avoided the crowd, but now she moved toward the people. She may have once feared what others knew about her past, but now she said, “He told me all things that ever I did.” She did not make her story look perfect. She did not wait until she was mature, trained, or able to explain every doctrine before speaking. She simply shared honestly about the One she had met.

Many of the Samaritans believed in Jesus because of the woman’s testimony. Later, after hearing Jesus for themselves, they believed more deeply and said, “Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.” This shows us that a witness does not draw people to herself, but points them to Jesus.

Today’s theme, “The Samaritan Woman: Returning to the City to Witness,” invites us to reflect: When we have truly met the Lord—when we have been known, received, forgiven, and renewed by Him—are we willing to carry that grace back into our own “city”? Our city may be our family, friends, workplace, church, community, or the people who know our weakness and past. God can use a life changed by grace as the beginning of someone else’s encounter with Christ.

Whispers for the Heart

1 After meeting Jesus, the Samaritan woman left her waterpot and returned to the city to testify. Are there “waterpots” in your life—things you keep holding onto, relying on, or using to satisfy yourself, yet they never truly fill your soul? Is Jesus inviting you today to lay them down and turn to the living water He gives?

2 This woman did not wait until she understood every truth perfectly before she began to witness for Jesus. She simply spoke honestly about the Lord she had met. Do you ever feel that you are not mature enough, eloquent enough, or qualified enough to testify for the Lord? How does this passage encourage you to begin with simply sharing what God has done in your life?

3 The Samaritan woman returned to the city, likely facing the very people who knew her past. Are you afraid to speak about your faith in front of people who know your weakness, failures, or history? How does this passage remind you that God can turn the places that once carried shame into places that testify of His grace?

As you read John 4:27-42 today, do not only see a woman sharing the gospel. See a life that was sought, known, touched, and renewed by Jesus. Her story reminds us that those who truly meet the Lord may not immediately have perfect answers, but they can begin to bear honest witness to Him.

Take a quiet breath before you begin. Bring your shame, fear, thirst, and the crowds you may want to avoid before the Lord, and let His Word meet you there.

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John 4:27-42 (KJV) 

27 And upon this came his disciples, and marvelled that he talked with the woman: yet no man said, What seekest thou? or, Why talkest thou with her?

28 The woman then left her waterpot, and went her way into the city, and saith to the men,

29 Come, see a man, which told me all things that ever I did: is not this the Christ?

30 Then they went out of the city, and came unto him.

31 In the mean while his disciples prayed him, saying, Master, eat.

32 But he said unto them, I have meat to eat that ye know not of.

33 Therefore said the disciples one to another, Hath any man brought him ought to eat?

34 Jesus saith unto them, My meat is to do the will of him that sent me, and to finish his work.

35 Say not ye, There are yet four months, and then cometh harvest? behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.

36 And he that reapeth receiveth wages, and gathereth fruit unto life eternal: that both he that soweth and he that reapeth may rejoice together.

37 And herein is that saying true, One soweth, and another reapeth.

38 I sent you to reap that whereon ye bestowed no labour: other men laboured, and ye are entered into their labours.

39 And many of the Samaritans of that city believed on him for the saying of the woman, which testified, He told me all that ever I did.

40 So when the Samaritans were come unto him, they besought him that he would tarry with them: and he abode there two days.

41 And many more believed because of his own word;

42 And said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.

💡 Closing Thought · Bringing the Grace of Meeting Jesus Back to the City 

After reading John 4:27-42, we see the real transformation in the Samaritan woman’s life. She left her waterpot, returned to the city, and invited the people to come and see Jesus. She did not hide her story. She did not wait until she was completely ready before speaking. She simply began from the place where she had met the Lord and carried grace back to the very people she may once have wanted to avoid.

As we close this page and return to our own lives, perhaps you also have your own “well”—a place where the Lord once comforted, exposed, healed, and called you. Perhaps you also have your own “city”—people who know you, live with you, work with you, or know something of your past. Remember this: witness does not always mean giving a complete message. Sometimes it begins with an honest invitation: “Come, see. I have met the Lord.”

May today’s Scripture remind you that you do not need to be perfect before you testify for the Lord. May you receive living water from Him, and with a life renewed by grace, return to your family, relationships, workplace, and city to speak of Him with gentleness and courage.

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