Leave the Jar: Living on Mission Like the Woman at the Well

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town and said to the people, ‘Come, see a man who told me everything I ever did. Could this be the Messiah?’” – John 4:28-29 (NIV)

The woman at the well.

You are probably familiar with her story. Maybe you have underlined it in your Bible or taught it in a small group. Perhaps you have even seen yourself in her brokenness. But recently, as I studied her story again, a small detail struck me in a new way.

“Then, leaving her water jar, the woman went back to the town…”

She left her water jar. 

The very reason she had gone to the well in the first place, the very task that likely defined her daily routine, suddenly didn’t matter anymore. Why? Because she had just experienced a radical, life-altering encounter with Jesus.

Something happened in that moment.

She came to the well searching for water but found something eternal. A man who knew everything she had ever done, yet didn’t condemn her. A man who offered her living water. Jesus revealed who He was to her and the result? She couldn’t keep it to herself. She came burdened by shame and isolation but left commissioned and filled with purpose.

She didn’t wait until she had all the answers or until her reputation was cleaned up. She went and told, and she became one of the first missionaries we see in the Gospels, stepping into the mission of God before the disciples even fully understood it.

Without hesitation, she left her water jar and ran back to town. The same town that had likely whispered about her, shunned her, and reminded her of her failures. She didn’t wait for approval or clarity. She didn’t clean up her reputation first. She just went. She told. And her testimony of salvation brought many to Jesus.

This is missional living. 

It’s living with the urgency and boldness that comes from knowing Jesus personally. It’s understanding that once we’ve encountered Him, we’re not just changed, we’re sent to share the good news of the Gospel.

Too often, we disqualify ourselves from living on mission.

We believe the lie that our past makes us unworthy.

We fear that our current season isn’t “big” enough to matter.

We think we have to have it all together before we can be used by God.

But Scripture paints a very different picture. Over and over again, we see God using ordinary, broken people to carry out His extraordinary message. The woman at the well is one of the clearest examples: not a leader, not a scholar, not someone society would have chosen. And yet, she became one of the earliest witnesses of Jesus. All because she was willing to go and tell.

Missional living doesn’t always look like overseas missions or full-time ministry. More often, it looks like obedience and faithful proclamation in our everyday lives. It’s being willing to walk across the street, to open your home, to encourage a mom at the park, to pray with someone at work. It’s recognizing that every encounter can be a divine appointment when you’re led by the Holy Spirit.

We are living in a world that’s just as thirsty as the woman at the well. People all around us are desperate for hope, for truth, for redemption. And we have the answer. Jesus didn’t save us just so we could sit safely in our redemption. He saved us to send us.

What’s the water jar you need to leave behind? 

Maybe it’s the shame of a broken past. Maybe it’s the comfort of routine or fear of rejection. Maybe it’s the belief that you’re not equipped enough or that someone else is more qualified.

Whatever it is, Jesus is inviting you to lay it down, and step into a life of purpose and mission. The Great Commission as we know, isn’t optional. It’s not a suggestion. It’s the call of every believer. And it starts right where we are. Just like it did for the woman at the well.

May we be people who go and tell.

May we live with urgency and compassion.

May we always be willing to leave our jars at the well.