Don't Fill In the Well
By Pastor Justin Cooper
Somewhere between the woman leaving her water pot and the entire city coming out to meet Jesus, something remarkable happened. She didn't just get transformed — she became the reason a whole community found the well.
She came alone, in shame, at noon. She left as a witness. And the well was still standing — still open — when they arrived.
That is what I want you and I to think about today: the people who are still coming.
Think about how many generations had passed since Jacob dug that well before she ever showed up at it. Someone bought that ground. Someone fought for it. Someone preserved it. And they didn't fill it in when the culture around them changed — because they understood that it was not just their well to use. It was a well for whoever came next.
"We are drinking from a well tonight that has been bought on the back, on the sacrifice, on the labor of a former generation."
Pastor Justin Cooper
Gospel Light Baptist Church
That is not a small thing. Every saved person at Gospel Light Baptist Church, every marriage that was salvaged, every child who was pointed to Christ, every broken person who found something real — all of it happened at a well that somebody else refused to fill in.
And here is the question that faces you and I right now: will we do the same for the people coming after us?
Look at what Proverbs 22:28 says:
"Remove not the ancient landmark which thy fathers have set."
— Proverbs 22:28
God is not just talking about a property line. He is talking about the markers that tell the next generation where they came from — the truth, the testimony, the heritage that says, "This is who we are. This is what we believe. This is the well."
What made Jacob's well special was not the name or the stones. It was that Jesus chose to sit on it the day that woman needed Him most. And here is what I believe with everything in me: if you and I stay faithful — if we keep the well open, keep the gospel clear, keep preaching the old Book — God will keep sitting on it.
There are people coming who haven't found the well yet. They are thirsty. They are going to the wrong places at the wrong hours trying to fill something that only Jesus can fill. And the question is not whether the well still works. The question is whether we will keep it standing until they get here.
Stay faithful. Stay true. Stay the same.
Don't fill in the well.
The action step today is concrete: identify one way you can invest in the well for the next generation. Pray specifically for someone who hasn't found it yet. Invite someone to church this week. Give. Serve. Show up. Do the small, faithful thing — and trust God to sit on this place like He always has.
Pray This Today:
Lord, thank you for the people who kept the well open for me. Thank you for their sacrifice, their faithfulness, their refusal to fill it in when it would have been easier. Now I stand here asking you to use me the same way. Let me be the kind of person who keeps the well standing for whoever comes next. Help me stay true, stay faithful, and stay out of the way long enough for you to sit on this place and do what only you can do. In Jesus' name, amen.
Reflection Question
What is one specific, practical thing you can do this week to invest in the well — to keep it open and available for someone who hasn't found it yet?
Gospel Light Baptist Church | Walkertown, NC
