#AdaWisdomChallenge
READ Proverbs 10 (listen). WRITE out one verse and SHARE with someone.
Proverbs 10 is the beginning of the proverbs of Solomon (Proverbs 10-22). These proverbs are typically two contrasting lines, giving instruction on how to live out wisdom in all of life. Proverbs 10 contrasts the righteous/wicked, wisdom/folly, proper/improper speech and work/sloth.
TODAY’S SCRIPTURE
When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?” John 4:7
Read: John 4:1-26
Listen: John 4
TODAY’S MESSAGE
Jesus sits down by a well in Samaria because he’s tired. He’s carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. He’s been traveling by foot and worn out. It would’ve been entirely within the norms of the day for a Jew to ignore the approaching Samaritan woman. Jesus could’ve leaned back, tried to take a nap and kept to himself.
Except, he doesn’t do that. He leans in. He engages her. He’s tired, and yet he breaks 500 years of racial animosity to begin a conversation with her.
A lot has happened in 2020, and we commonly complain that we’re tired. We’re tired of being at home, using hand sanitizer, connecting on video conferences, canceling plans, waiting for businesses to reopen, and having shaggy hair or roots showing. We just want a break. It could be easy for us to say we are too tired to engage with the sin of racism right now.
But that’s not the pattern of Jesus. He leans in—and so should we. Leaning in is often best done through personal relationships with those who aren’t like us. It happens when we ask them to tell us what they see.
IN YOUR CHAIR TIME TODAY
Lean into this moment and conversation. Don’t let it be a blind spot anymore. Try and see the world through African Americans’ eyes. After the death of George Floyd on the street in Minneapolis, our black friends and neighbors are asking us, “Do you see it now?” We need to lean in to listen humbly, be a learner and let them know this isn’t just a black American problem, but it is our problem as Americans.
Download a printable PDF of the BTW week here.
