DAY 36 OF THE OMER

“Today is thirty-six days which are five weeks and one day of the Omer.”

·       Theme of the Week: Yesod - Intimacy

·       Theme of the Day: Chesed – Loving-kindness

·       Overall Theme: The Loving-kindness of His Intimacy

·       Psalm 94:12-23

John 4:5-10 Then cometh he to a city of Samaria, which is called Sychar, near to the parcel of ground that Jacob gave to his son Joseph. Now Jacob's well was there. Jesus therefore, being wearied with his journey, sat thus on the well: and it was about the sixth hour. There cometh a woman of Samaria to draw water: Jesus saith unto her, Give me to drink. (For his disciples were gone away unto the city to buy meat.) Then saith the woman of Samaria unto him, How is it that thou, being a Jew, askest drink of me, which am a woman of Samaria? for the Jews have no dealings with the Samaritans. Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.

In Yeshua’s Day and culture men and women who were not married or were not related to each other never just “shot the breeze” or “chewed the fat.” Dialogue was considered intimate and was only reserved for same sex, spouse or close relatives of the opposite sex, like a sister.

So here is the woman some would consider, damaged goods, trash, a floozy, a hussy. She was an outcast of sorts even among her own in so much that she had to get water from the well at an odd time of the day so she would be harassed by the locals because of her reputation. And here we see Yeshua, a Rabbi striking up a conversation with her. Not only was she a woman of ill-repute, but a half-breed Jew, a Samaritan and to speak to such a person with a complexity of labels was taboo. Yet by dialogue, as we already established was a form of intimacy; He spoke to her about spiritual matters, instead of degrading her and sending her away displayed Messiah’s loving-kindness in an intimate way.

The Traditional Psalm to read is Psalm 94:12-23:

¹²Blessed is the man whom thou chastenest, O LORD, and teachest him out of thy law;
 ¹³That thou mayest give him rest from the days of adversity, until the pit be digged for the wicked.
 ¹⁴For the LORD will not cast off his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
 ¹⁵But judgment shall return unto righteousness: and all the upright in heart shall follow it.
 ¹⁶Who will rise up for me against the evildoers? or who will stand up for me against the workers of iniquity?
 ¹⁷Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul had almost dwelt in silence.
 ¹⁸When I said, My foot slippeth; thy mercy, O LORD, held me up.
 ¹⁹In the multitude of my thoughts within me thy comforts delight my soul.
 ²⁰Shall the throne of iniquity have fellowship with thee, which frameth mischief by a law?
 ²¹They gather themselves together against the soul of the righteous, and condemn the innocent blood.
 ²²But the LORD is my defence; and my God is the rock of my refuge.
 ²³And he shall bring upon them their own iniquity, and shall cut them off in their own wickedness; yea, the LORD our God shall cut them off.

“Loving Abba God, help and enable me to be lovingly intimate as Yeshua was, through my words and actions. Especially toward those society and religion frown upon and help me make an everlasting difference in their lives. In the Name of Messiah Yeshua I pray, Ameyn.”