In this episode, we delve into the power of curiosity and spiritual longing as tools for sharing one’s faith. Pastor Skip Heitzig shares a captivating story from his tour in Israel, where a simple act of baptism opened a door to curiosity and eventual belief for a woman named Olga. This encounter illustrates the profound impact of engaging others by piquing their interest and addressing their deep-seated spiritual needs.
00:00:01 Introduction to Connect with Skip Heitzig
This is Connect with Skip Heitzig. Thanks for joining us today. Here at Connect with Skip, we love to help you know God’s Word better and apply it to your life through clear, practical Bible teaching and real encouragement. And if you’d like to keep growing in your walk with Jesus, sign up for Pastor Skip’s free weekly devotional. You’ll receive biblical insight, teaching highlights, and exclusive resource offers designed to help you stay strong in your faith, all delivered right to your inbox. Signing up is quick and easy, and you’ll be glad you did. Go to connectwithskip.com and join the list today. That’s connectwithskip.com. Now let’s dive into today’s teaching from Pastor Skip Heitzig.
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Jesus’ statement here is a bit mysterious, and that’s designed to be that, to make her want to hear more. It produces curiosity. You know, if you know who was talking to you, you’d ask him, he’d give you living water. And she’d be thinking, I wonder what he means by that. I have no idea what he means by that, but I’d like to hear more about that. So he gives just enough information as a hook to draw in her curiosity. It would be like if you’re in the store and there’s the newspapers, you’re up by the counter, up by the checkout counter, and there’s all these headlines, and usually the headlines are bad or, you know, a woman birthed twins on Mars or something crazy thing like that. But you’re up by the checkout line and somebody’s in front of you and they are looking at the headlines and they just sort of blurt out loud, what is this world coming to? And you hear that and you go, that’s my opportunity. You could say something like, seems to me that the world is right on time. They’re gonna look at you and go, what do you mean by that? Instead of saying, I’ll tell you what this world is coming to, it’s going to hell in a hand basket and so are you if you’re not stimulating curiosity. So before you pull out your four spiritual laws track, how about say something that would create a sense of wonder, even perplexity, just to get them to think. In Acts chapter 2, there’s a phrase. It says when the Jewish disciples were in Jerusalem and they were growing, the church was growing, they were sharing their faith, it says they were all amazed at and marveled. The town, the city of Jerusalem, they were all amazed and marveled. G. Campbell Morgan, one of my favorite commentators, said, the trouble too often is that the world is not at all amazed and not at all perplexed because there is nothing to amaze nor to perplex. The work of the church is to marvel. Perplex the city and make the city listen. That is, awaken people’s curiosity. Personal story. On one of our tours to Israel, We do this every time we go. We go to the Jordan River. We baptize people who want to be baptized in the Jordan. There’s a special site there for crowds to come and do that. So we were all baptizing those who want to be baptized in the Jordan River. And I noticed there’s a lot of people that come there. But there was this one woman who was on the other side of the fence. So she was not in the baptismal site. She’s on the other side of the fence looking through the fence at what we were doing. When everybody left and I was about to go and change, dry off and change, she kind of waved to me and asked me to come over to her. And so now I’m on the other side of the fence speaking to her through the fence. She introduced herself. My name is Olga. I remember her name. And she said, what are you doing? what is this that just happened, this baptism? So I thought, okay, most people would know this is a baptism, but she was clueless. But I could tell she was curious. So I said, well, Olga, this is called a baptism, and people who are believers in Christ are told in the Bible to go through this little ritual that signifies an inward change. It’s an outward sign that depicts an inward change, and the inward change is salvation. They met Jesus personally. He transformed their lives. They have purpose. They have meaning, and in obedience to him and as a token of love to him, they want to go under the water, which signifies burying the old, come out of the water, signifies resurrected life. So I explained this to her. And I could tell as I was talking to her, I was melting away a lot of walls that she had put up. So we were having a conversation. She asked a few more questions. And I said, hey, Olga, do you think you’re ready to make a decision to follow Christ today here in Israel? And she looked at me and she started nodding her head in the affirmative and said, I think I am. So I prayed with her right there through the fence. And then I said, now, Olga, come on the other side through the opening into this baptismal site and let me baptize you. And I baptized her in water immediately after she prayed to receive Christ. She was just curious. Yes. And curiosity, I think, has led a lot of people to salvation. Yeah, I’m curious. I’ve heard about that church. I’ll go with you Sunday. I’ll check it out. Or they come on Easter to the stadium. What kind of people get up that early to go to a big stadium? I remember when I first saw Billy Graham preaching on television to a big stadium, I wondered that. I was just curious. I thought, look how many people are there. Why? To hear what? What is he saying? It was just curiosity. That was the hook. So he appeals to her curiosity. Second, appeal to their craving. Appeal to their craving. I want you to watch this. Verse 11. The woman said to him, after he mentions living water. The woman said to him, sir. You have nothing to draw with, and the well is deep. Where then do you get that living water? I think she said it sort of cynically. Are you greater than our father Jacob? Stop right there. Isn’t that a funny line? She’s talking to God in human flesh. Who do you think you are? You think you’re better than Jacob? Uh-huh. You could write that statement over every life experience, over every relationship. over everything you buy in life, over every accolade you hear, over every degree you strive to get in life. Drink of this water, you will thirst again. But whoever drinks, he continues, verse 14, whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will be in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life. The woman said to him, sir, give me this water that I may not thirst nor come here to draw. Jesus knew this woman had a deep longing in her heart for something more. Everybody does. The Bible says God has put eternity in our hearts. He has placed, he has planted a craving, a longing, a desire for something more. Some people call it a God-shaped hole or a God-shaped vacuum. Now, this gal is stunned, and she’s thinking, who does this guy think he is? He has no idea. He is no ordinary guy. But his words in the conversation begin to percolate and start to affect her soul, touch her deeply, because what he is describing is what she has always wanted, Everyone was created with that God-shaped hole, and nothing else will satisfy. C.S. Lewis was right when he said, If I find within myself a desire which no experience in this world can satisfy, the most probable explanation is that I was made for another world. She’s recognizing there’s a spiritual dimension that this man is touching upon, and it’s something I am lacking. Paul describes this in Romans 8, verse 20. He said, the creation, that’s us, was subjected to futility. Futility means emptiness, frustration. Creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, not because we wanted it, but because of him who subjected it in hope. In other words, God made you with a hole in your soul. He did it on purpose so that you would fill it with him and nothing else will fill it. Nothing else will satisfy. Here’s a woman preoccupied with a hole in the ground, the well. Jesus confronts her with the hole in her soul. And he talks about living water. Now, let me just describe what that is. Living water was sometimes used to describe flowing water or water in a river. That’s living water as opposed to stagnant water. Water that you collect like in a cistern or in a pond. It’s not moving. But moving water is living water. However, in the Old Testament, living water is a metaphor to speak of spiritual renewal, spiritual satisfaction that comes from life transformation. In Jeremiah chapter 2, God said to the prophet, My people have committed two evils. They have forsaken me, the fountain of living water, and they have dug for themselves cisterns, stagnant water, broken cisterns that can hold no water. Then you remember in John chapter 7 at the Feast of Tabernacles, Jesus stood up and he shouted to the crowd and he said, if anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. For out of his heart, out of his innermost being, as the scripture has said, will flow torrents of living water. John then adds, this he spoke about his Holy Spirit, which was not yet given. So in other words, Jesus was saying, I have what you need. I have what your soul craves for.
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You’re listening to Connect with Skip Heitzig. Every day, the generosity of friends like you helps make clear, practical Bible teaching available to families who are searching for hope, healing, and God’s truth. And this month, we want to thank you with a powerful resource focused on restoring God’s When you give, you’ll receive Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book drawn from more than 30 years of biblical teaching and pastoral wisdom. It speaks honestly to the real challenges families face—financial stress, emotional distance, discouragement, and temptation—while pointing you back to God’s timeless plan for healthy, God-honoring relationships. We’ll send Reconnecting with Family as our thanks when you give $50 or more to support the ministry of Connect with Skip Heitzig. Call 800-922-1888 or visit connectwithskip.com slash offer. Now let’s return to today’s teaching.
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So try this method in sharing your faith. Start with a normal conversation. Insert some statement that makes people want to hear more. Then go deeper and address the reality of their thirst, their emptiness. Ask them, let me just ask you a candid question. Are you satisfied with your life? Has life produced for you everything you anticipated that it would? Has it given to you all that you feel you need? Get them in touch with that. So you want to make an appeal, the right appeal, appeal to their curiosity, appeal to their craving. Let me give you a quick little third under this third main point. Appeal to their conscience, their conscience. Jesus does that. Verse 16, he said, verse 16. Now, you’ll notice so far she has been speaking back to him, kind of like cute little things. cynical statements. Oh, how can I get this living water? I don’t want to have to come to the well and draw every day. I can just have it. I want running water, tap water in my home. I don’t want to have to come here. So he’s indulging her up to this point. Then verse 16, Jesus said to her, go call your husband and come here. The woman answered and said, I have no husband. Jesus said to her, and he would only know this if he were God. Jesus said to her, you have well said I have no husband for you have had five husbands and the one that you now have is not your husband in that you have spoken truly. I love her response. The woman said to him, sir, I perceive you’re a prophet. Understatement of the year. See, up till now, Jesus has been indulging her cynicism because he realizes she’s speaking from her pain. She’s had a painful background. But now he goes for the juggler. He wants to penetrate that thick, defensive exterior and hit the heart. So first he got her curious. Then he went a little deeper and got her in touch with her spiritual thirst. But now he gets personal. And like a spiritual sharpshooter, he targets her conscience with one simple statement. Go call your husband. That one sentence would prick her conscience and remind her of failure. Five times failing to maintain a relationship with a man. Five different husbands from her past. And she would immediately think, how does this stranger know the intimate details of my past life? That’s why she said, sir, I perceive you’re a prophet. Who would know that? And then even if he did know it, why would he bring it up? And that’s a question I want to get to. Why did he tear open a scab to such a deep wound as this? Here’s why. To get her to see her need. To get her in touch with that guilty conscience. Because you’ll never drink living water unless you realize, you know, I’m really thirsty. You’ll never seek a savior unless you go, I’m a sinner. And so he was getting her in touch with her need, touching the very thing that was the soft spot in her life. Now, his approach wouldn’t be the same with everyone. With some, he might say, go get your tax returns. Or he would say to another, let me see the search history on your computer. Or to somebody else, let me see your bank records or your phone messages. He would touch on that area. Well, he does that to her. She says, sir, I perceive that you’re a prophet. Now, you can lead a Samaritan to water, but you can’t make her drink. But he does lead her to water, and she does. Drink. Because, and we don’t have time, if you follow the rest of the story, she believes he is the promised Messiah. She believes and goes with great joy to tell everyone about the man who told everything about her past life. And it says many in that town believe. Now, with just a few minutes left, I want to give you a few bullet points. I’ve been doing this usually in these messages on help. So I want to give you a few bullet points that will help you share your faith. Very simple words. Here they are. Live, look, listen, leverage, and leave. I’ll go through them. First of all, live. Live a real life. Christian life. Live the authentic Christian life. Live a life in such a way before people, Jesus, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Let your light so shine. So live in such a way that makes people hungry and thirsty for what you have. Just live the life. Then look. Look for opportunities. You have a conversation. You are intentionally listening and looking for opportunities to share. You might be in the store, in the line. You might be at work. You might be at one of your kids’ games. You’re having that conversation. It’s a natural conversation. You don’t want to force or contrive anything, just an organic discussion. And just watch what happens. You know, we did this song this morning, Help, and you’ve been hearing it. It was sung by John Lennon. John Lennon is also the one who wrote the song Imagine. Imagine there’s no heaven. And I have a friend who is a musician who happened to be in the recording studio the day that John Lennon was doing the Imagine record. And when Lennon came out of the studio and he was looking at some of the headlines of the news, the Vietnam thing and President Nixon, who he didn’t like, Lennon started kind of mouthing off about how bad the world is. And my friend Tom was able to slip right in naturally and talk about Jesus and the hope for transformation right there with John Lennon in the recording studio. So you want to live, you want to look for opportunities, be intentional to look for them. Then you want to listen because they have something to say. They have questions. You don’t want to just come on and say, no, no, no, be quiet. Listen to me. I’m the preacher. Because when you listen to an unbeliever, that helps you develop compassion. kind of know where they’re coming from, what they’ve been up against, what they have struggled with. They’re real people with real questions and real feelings. Just like Jesus, listen to this woman asking questions, using the right bait of living water. So live, look, listen. Number four, leverage. Leverage your personal story. with that person. See, you have some capital. You have a changed life. You have a testimony, a personal story of life change. And if you tell your testimony and they say, well, that never happened to you, they can’t say that. They’re not you. So your story is powerful. Get ready to share your testimony. It emphasizes personal transformation. And then finally, leave. What I mean by that is you leave the results with God. And when you do, you might be surprised what God can do without you. Yes, with you because he’s used you to plant the seed. But now as you walk away after planting the seed, watch what happens and how God can move in the heart to make that seed grow. Remember when Jesus in Mark 4, you may remember this, he gave a little parable about a man who went out and he planted some seed, went home, slept, got up the next day, And then came later on, and it says, the seed sprouted and grew. He himself does not know how, for the earth yields crops by itself. First the blade, then the head, then the full grain. So you plant the seed, you walk away, leave the results with God, and you cannot see the work that God is going to do inside that heart. And he’ll do it. I want to close with a story because I like stories, if you can’t tell. There was a renowned musician named Fritz Kreisler. Now, he was Austrian, and he was very famous, and he played violin beautifully, and he was touring through Europe. And he came across in his travels an exquisite violin that he wanted. He wanted to buy it. The man said, I’ll sell it to you, but it’ll cost this much. Chrysler didn’t have the money. He was on tour. But he said, I’ll go back, I’ll raise the money, and I’ll buy the violin. He went back home, raised enough money, traveled again, found the man with a violin, offered to buy it. The man said, well, in the meantime, I’ve sold it to a collector. Fritz Kreisler traveled to find the collector who owned the violin, said, I’d like to buy the violin. The collector said, I don’t want to sell it. I don’t need your money. It’s not going anywhere. He was disappointed, obviously. And then Fritz Kreisler thought of something. He said, do you mind if I just play that violin one last time before it is sentenced to silence forever? I said, sure, have at it. Kreisler picked up the violin, played some exquisite song that filled the neighborhood with music. And afterwards, the collector who owned the violin said, I have no right to keep that to myself. It is yours, Mr. Kreisler. Take it into the world and let people hear it. Jesus would say, take it into the world and let people hear it. It is the song of salvation through your life that people need to hear. Don’t keep it to yourself. Play for his glory.
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Thanks for joining us today on Connect with Skip Heitzig. Before we go, remember your generosity helps share God’s word with families around the world, offering truth, hope, and encouragement where it’s needed most. And this month, we’d love to thank you for your gift of $50 or more by sending you Reconnecting with Family, Pastor Skip’s new book focused on restoring God’s design for family and relationships. It’s filled with biblical insight and practical encouragement to help families grow stronger, even in challenging seasons. Give today at connectwithskip.com slash offer or call 800-922-1888. See you next time on Connect with Skip.
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Make a connection. Make a connection at the foot of the crossing.
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Connect with Skip Heitzig is a presentation of Connection Communications, connecting you to God’s never-changing truth in ever-changing times.
