I was talking to a friend today about a situation that arose at her church. I’ve been going through writers block lately, but God showed me a new way that he wants me to write on the blog for a bit. I have decided to take on a few of the stories in the Bible and expound on them in a more modern way.
When I was in high school, I read the book The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne’s story is about a woman, named Hester Prynne, who is forced to wear the scarlet letter “A” on her chest for the adultery that she committed while her husband was presumed lost at sea. Hester and her infant daughter, Pearl, are forced to live a life outside of town because of her sin. This made me think of a few stories from the Bible…one that I had used myself when I first met my husband.
The first story I want to touch on is in John 4. This is the story of Jesus’s travels that took him through Samaria. Jews did not like Samaritans, so the oddity, at least to the woman in this story, is that Jesus would even give her the time of day, let alone ask her for a drink. Jesus knew more about this woman and what she truly needed than she even realized. He was trying to get her to see past physical needs of the body to see that what she truly needed was something that she didn’t realize she didn’t have….a Savior.
John 4:10
Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
Still the woman doesn’t get it. She thinks Jesus has some kind of miracle water that will quench her thirst forever…until Jesus asks her to go get her husband and bring him back. She doesn’t have one. In fact, Jesus goes on to tell her that she had 5 husbands and the man she is with now is not her husband. WHOA! How did he know all of that? Because he is God. She goes back to town to tell everyone who will listen about this man at the well. Jesus is invited back to town to stay for a few days where he witnesses to the Samaritans and many believe in Him.
So what does this have to do with being a nympho? Talk about scarlet letters! This woman may have prided herself for having so many different husbands and a lover now. Who knows what happened to all the other husbands before this man that she lived with. If this woman was divorced, rabbi’s usually only permitted 2-3 divorces at most, and here she was living with another partner. This woman may not have had enough room on her clothes for all the “A”‘s that could have been put on her. But Jesus was kind to her. In a world where Pharisees and Saduccees may have stoned her to death for her sin, Jesus spent time trying to save her from her sin. We all know John 3:16 by heart, but can you remember what comes next in verse 17?
“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”
Some of us have come into our marriages with the same kind of sexual sin. Jesus died on the cross for you as well as for this woman. After hearing someone who was a stranger and a Jew tell her everything about her sexual history, she came to believe in Him. All of her sins are forgiven in Christ’s death and resurrection. So are yours, my dear readers, so are yours. No matter what your situation, please don’t let sin enter into your life. My friend was telling me about an aquaintance who’s dh was in prison and now she is living with another man. It is so easy to fall prey to Satan’s game. Leave that sin on the shelf, my dear ones, and follow Christ.
Proverbs 3:5-6
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways, acknowledge HIM, and HE will make your paths straight. (emphasis mine) Keep your eyes and your heart on God and he will lead you through.
Lord, your grace is enough for me. I’ll continue another story in my next post.
Christian Nymphos 