The days were long and hot; the nights were cool and dark. The young couple had traveled for several days on the flatlands along the Jordan River and had now reached the hills surrounding Jerusalem. Bethlehem was finally within reach. Dirt clung to their feet as though providing a layer of protection. The woman shifted positions as she rode on the donkey as often as she could. Her tired and worn body felt the movement of her child growing within her giving the determination to complete journey.
As the sun began to set, the road seemed to disappear. They would soon approach their destination and the woman knew that when they reached the town, they would be able to take rest.
Sarah played in the dirt outside her front door. She loved the early evening when her chores were finished, and her mother allowed her to play safely in front of the house. She watched the other children from the town as they ran down the street, but her mother told her she was too young to join them. So, she sat quietly in the soft dirt stacking the wooden blocks her father had made for her. As she stacked her blocks, she heard rustling in the road. She quickly grabbed her blocks escaping the falling of her tower as various strangers’ rode by on their donkeys loaded with supplies. Her mother had told her it was time for the census. Confused, of course, at this word, her mother explained to her that every few years people from all over had to travel to their place of birth in order for the government to count how many people lived in the area. That seemed silly to Sarah, but she loved watching the strangers come down her street, nevertheless.
Sarah continued to play when she noticed a man and woman approaching. When she looked up, she saw a young woman on a donkey with her hand resting on the top of her large stomach. This woman looked tired so, Sarah quickly ran inside her house to grab a clay jar filling it with water.
As Sarah stepped outside, the man and woman approached her house. With her tiny frame, she struggled to stretch her legs to reach the woman on the donkey. When the woman saw Sarah struggle, she reached out and grabbed the jar from her. Grateful for this water, she looked into Sarah’s eyes as a she greeted her with a smile.
“Hello. My name is Mary, and this is my husband Joseph. What is your name?”
As Sarah backed away from the donkey, she answered, “My name is Sarah. We live here in Bethlehem. This is my father’s inn.”
Mary looked at the building in front of her, “It’s a beautiful inn. Maybe we can stay here tonight. I hope to see you later.”
Mary took a sip of the water from the jar and then handed it back. Sarah said for her to keep it just in case she got thirsty later in the evening.
“Is anyone thirsty?
Come and drink – “
Isaiah 55:1
“Lord, I’m so thirsty today but I don’t know what I am thirsty for.
I’m thirsty for direction in my marriage. It seems so dry. I feel as though it has been year after year of thirst trying to satisfy my soul. This well so often feels dry. Oh, it fills up a bit here and there providing a temporary satisfaction, but the the well runs dry again. But I continue to run to that dry well walking away so thirsty.
I’m thirsty for direction in my life. I look and search for purpose and meaning. Yes, occasionally I am a little more satisfied than other times, but it seems to run out. Then I am left thirsty stranded in the desert looking for another well.
I’m thirsty for connection in friendships. There are days I stare at my phone longing for a text for connection. I try to put my thirst aside but the desire to drink is relentless.
God, I’m so thirsty. My lips are dry and my mouth longs to be moistened.
Could I have just one sip of water?”
John 4:13 “Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
Jesus, I want to drink from this well. I need the spring of living water to well up with inside of me that only YOU can give.
Later that evening, Sarah walked into her father’s room as he was writing in his ledger. As she stepped through the door, he looked up at Sarah with a smile on his face. It had been a long time since she had seen her father smile in this way.
“We’re full Sarah! For the first time in a long time, we are full! There is no more room in the inn.”
“I’m so happy for you. Father, did a woman named Mary and her husband find a room? She was going to have a baby.”
“No. I’m sorry sweet girl. The inn was full.”
Sarah walked away sad and concerned for this woman. As she stepped outside the door, she turned to ask her father if he knew where they went. He replied,
“I told them about the stable down the road. I think they went that direction. It is that stable that you and your brother play in at times.”
Sarah knew exactly where the stable was. It was old, but it could provide good shelter for Mary and her husband.
Tomorrow she would go and see them.
That night as Sarah crawled under her blankets, she said a prayer for the woman she met on the road that day.
Then she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
THE WALK 