Most of us are familiar with the story of the Samaritan woman Jesus shared with on one of His trips with His disciples.  We usually refer to the story as "The Woman at the Well."  It is a very interesting and helpful account.  It teaches us much about the heart of Jesus.  It gives us a model for sharing with others.  It challenges and motivates us to care.

     But there is one seldom noted part of the account that I think needs to be emphasized.  It is contained in the first part of John 4:6:  "Now, Jacob's well was there."

     Jacob lived a long time before Jesus walked the earth.  One of the things he did during his lifetime was to dig some wells.  They were necessary if he and his were to live in a desert land.  So there is nothing unusual about his digging of the wells.  What is unusual is how long they lasted.

     If you have ever dug a hole in the sand, you know the sides will collapse unless they are supported with something.  And that support has to be very good if it is to last any length of time.

     The point of all this is that Jacob did something in his lifetime which, because it was done well, lasted for centuries and provided an opportunity for ministry.  It was because Jacob's well was there that Jesus sat and rested.  It was because Jacob's well was there that the woman came to that spot.  It was because Jacob's well was there that He asked for water, and had the opportunity to introduce her to Living Water.

     How often we benefit from something someone else did before we came along.  Most of us worship in churches established long before our day.  We live in a country with religious freedom secured by leaders of long ago.  We read Bibles, many of which were translated by people who have since died.  Someone else wrought well, and we have entered into and been blessed by what they did.

     But I wonder what I am doing today that will last, so that after I am gone someone else will be blessed.  What "well" am I digging that will provide an opportunity for the Lord Jesus to minister to someone in later years?  What will I leave behind that will last?

     So much of what we spend our lives on doesn't last.  We need to concentrate our energies on the things that do.  We need to build lives of such quality that we leave a heritage for our children.  We need to stand for truth and integrity, and live by the law of love to such an extent that we will be a force for God after we no longer live upon this earth.  We need to take the long look, and live for the future.

     "Now Jacob's well was there."  Will ours be there also?