The Inconsequential

Back in the college years when my roommate thought he could teach me to play the guitar, one of the songs we sang a lot was called, "Jesus met the Woman at the Well."  As you might imagine, it required only a few chords, but it did tell the story found in the fourth chapter of John.  One of the more curious things about the story is how it was told with such detail when no one was present there that day but Jesus and the woman.  Verse  8 of that chapter says, "His (Jesus) disciples had gone to the city to buy food."  I have often wondered if John might have lingered there with Jesus and did not include himself among those departed.   

Certainly, it is not an important thing to ponder too long.  There are surely more important things to consider in contemplative moments.  Maybe Jesus told John, or maybe John talked to the woman.  Who knows?  Having the answer is not something that will change the truths which are glaring at us within the written account of this unlikely encounter between one known as a sinner and One who had come to save sinners from their sins.   

Before we throw out the question as inconsequential pondering, it might be of some value to simply affirm that everything pondered from the Word does not have to belong to the earth shaking variety.  Every part of the Scripture has been written and passed down through the centuries because it is divinely inspired.  (II Timthy 3:16)  Watching an ant crawl around the ground may seem to be inconsequential, but then Thoreau might disagree as would the writer of Proverbs who wrote, "Go to the ant, you sluggard; consider her ways..."   (Proverbs 6:6) Who knows what is out there waiting to be revealed as we ponder the world of the inconsequential?