Give me to drink."

There is no scorn in the tone, and yet the woman is not in the least
softened by it. She rather glories in the fact that she has Him at a
disadvantage. "Oh, yes," she doubtless says to herself, "you Jews with
your high-handed pride, you Jews with your bitter contempt for us
Samaritans--you never have any use for us except when you need us."
"How is it," she says, "that you being a Jew ask drink of me who am a
woman of Samaria? You don't mean that you would take a drink at the
hand of an unclean thing like me, do you?"

But this charming Stranger does not answer her as she had expected. He
makes no apology for His request. Nor does He show the least bit of
resentment or contempt. He does not answer scorn with scorn, but
rather answers with a surprising tenderness: "If thou knewest the gift
of God and who it is that saith unto thee, Give me to drink, thou
wouldest have asked of Him and He would have given thee living water."

Mark what the Master says. It is one of those abidingly tragic
"ifs"--"If thou knewest." "The trouble with you," He says, "is that
you do not know the marvelous opportunity with which you now stand face
to face. Your trouble is that you are unaware of how near you are to
the Fountain of Eternal Life. You do not realize how near your soiled
fingers are to clasping wealth that is wealth forever more."

"If thou knewest"--if you only knew how He could still the fitful fever
of your heart. If you only knew the message of courage and hope and
salvation that He could speak through your lips, you would not be so
listless and so careless and so indifferent as the preacher is trying
to preach. If you knew the burdens that are ahead of you--if you knew
the dark and lonely places where you will sorely need a friend, you
would not lightly ignore the friendship and abiding companionship that
is offered you in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

"If thou knewest." Do you not hear the cadences of tenderness in the
voice of our Lord? Do you not get a glimpse of some bit of the
infinite compassion that looks out from those eternal eyes? "If you
only knew the gift of God, if you only knew who I am, instead of my
having to beg you, instead of my having to stand at the door and
knock--you would be knocking. You would be asking of me."

Now, isn't that a rather amazing thing for Christ to say about this
fallen woman? There she stands in her shame. Once, no doubt, she was
beautiful. There