"There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink." (John 4:7). When Jesus asked the woman at the well in Samaria for a drink of water, the woman was shocked. Not only was she a Samaritan and He a Jew, which meant they both ought to have hated each other, but also the woman was coming down to the well in the heat of the day to draw water and thus was obviously hated even among her own people. But Jesus corrects her and explains that Him asking her for some of her water is even stranger than she assumes. He tells her that if she knew of the water that He could give her, then she would be the one asking Him for water. So, if Jesus already had better water than her, then why did He ask her for water? I believe that the answer lies in something called the Ben Franklin Effect. Benjamin Franklin recommended that the quickest way to win a stranger over is not to start out by doing something nice for them but rather asking them for some small favor. “He that has once done you a Kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged.” (Benjamin Franklin). I believe this is what Jesus was doing with that woman at the well. And look at the results! He asked her for some small favor, then He explained who He was, and that woman turned into one of the greatest missionaries of all time. Despite her checkered past and her current status as a pariah among her people, once she understood that she had been speaking with the Messiah, she joyfully and fearlessly dragged half the village out to meet Him. Jesus had asked her for the small kindness of a drink of water, and she was more than ready to do Him another by bringing souls unto Him. When the Lord asks us to do something for Him, it is not because He is incapable of doing it Himself. He wants to have a relationship with us. He wants there to be a mutual exchange of kindness and service and respect and love. He knows that if we do one small and simple thing for Him, then we will be more likely to do another small and simple thing for Him. And as we begin to serve and to love the Lord with more and more of our heart, might, mind and strength, we in turn will be more willing to accept all that He has to offer us. Ultimately, Christ asks each of us to give Him a drink of our water so that we will be more ready and willing to receive the water that He has for us. I hope that every time we choose to serve the Lord, it makes it a little easier for us to offer to serve Him again the next time, and to accept His grace when we need it in return.
