"The Nudge"

 "The woman said unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." (John 4:19-20 KJV)

  "Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double-minded." (James 4:8 KJV)

  If there were a way to express conviction, without it seeming too obvious, this might be a pretty good example of what that might look like. One thing is for sure, the woman has now started to move the subject away from the well and onto spiritual matters; so Jesus must have pushed the right button! Notice that she did not object to what was claimed or try to make excuses for the mistakes or sins in her life; just a little something to take note of, because usually people do get offensive when you call them out on their sins. 

  That said, it would appear that she might have become a little bit offended, if that might be the correct definition of what her reaction is with her second statement; because here is where she questions the authority of Jesus, not that He does not have any, but that His authority is not over her. Strange the way we sometimes resort to that, as if you have your way, I have mine, and that is that, so there! 

  Going back to when I first got saved, I recall a very interesting talk I had with a couple of brothers, as we were having a little disagreement over the meaning of, "Casting your pearls before swine." The subject came up as I was trying to win-over a certain inmate that threatened to hit me if I tried to witness to him again; but I had told my two brothers I would not give up, but look for another opening to share with him. That is when they brought up that verse, "Do not case your pearls before swine," Matthew 7:6. 

  To understand what that verses actually means, I believe we need to notice the context of where Jesus was coming from, as He had just left off talking about judging people, especially by being a hypocrite trying to pull a splinter out the eye of someone else, while having a beam in our own eye. In this context I believe the subject is more about discernment than it is about judging what a person my or may not be. 

  That might not be good enough for some, because it my mother always told me, "A leopard cannot change his spots." Please don't misunderstand what I am trying to say, because God is the one who needs to change the human heart; but it is you and I that need to be faithful to do what God calls us to do, sometimes, even when it might not seem like people want to hear it! 

  If you really want to know, Jesus did not judge the woman, He just said what see had done; making her know that He was not just anyone, but someone in touch with God. This is by far the closest point I can make towards what I believe Jesus meant, "Do not cast your pearls before swine," because the pearls are a reference to holiness, but holiness is not to be used to knock someone over the head or try and make them out to be unable to be saved; not when it is not our job to save them...

""God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him. There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him. But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God's one and only Son." (John 3:17-18 NLT)