THE BLANK CHEQUE

"What's your full name again?" the gentleman asked, delicately scribbling at the cheque book his assistant handed out to him.

"Gina" she blurted out. "Gina Martins ".

A few moments later, a blank cheque with her name on it stared back at her as she retrieved the piece of paper from the gentleman.

As the winner of the Top Scholar grand slam, she was entitled to the first place prize - a blank cheque that must be filled with the amount of choice, before she left the competition grounds.

Everything was happening so quickly. She had been anticipating the grand finale of the competition for months after surviving rigorous elimination rounds. However, nobody was expecting the sheer generosity of the grand prize which their principal had succeeded in keeping a secret until now.

She was going to claim 50 million dollars on the cheque she decided. She didn't know exactly how to spend such a large amount of money yet, but it seemed like a reasonable amount to ensure herself and her family had nothing to do with poverty again. She was going to retire both of her parents and set up a business for them, move them into a high brow area of the...

Gina's thought was abruptly interrupted by the sound of a slap landing on her left thigh. She couldn't believe it. How dare that person on such an important day of her life? They were going to get a piece of her right there and then. She flexed her arms, simultaneously as she turned to face her assailant.

"Mama - it was you?" - Gina realized

"Yes it's me and you better wake up from your slumber before another one lands on you" - her mother retorted

Argh, it had only been a dream. Gina jostled up, rubbed her eyes and sluggishly went on her knees as she said her morning prayers. It was the day of the grand finale of the Top Scholar competition and it was going to be a long day.

---

Like Gina, what would you do if you received a blank cheque? What will be your request if someone you perceived had the answers to all your troubles was standing right in front of you? What would you ask for?

Historians and Bible scholars tell us that there was about 400 years between Malachi (the last old testament prophet) and Matthew (the first gospel in the new testament) where there was no recorded prophecy or message from God. Many theologians have different exegesis about this period of prophetic silence.

Coming out from this period of prophetic drought, we read the account of the Samaritan woman who finally perceived she was speaking to a genuine prophet after Jesus had downloaded her life history to her.

The woman said to Him, “Sir, I perceive that You are a prophet." - John 4:19 (NKJV)

For the second week in a row, I would draw your attention again to the Samaritan woman at the well (John 4). Pardon my bias, she is easily one of my favorite female characters in the Bible, and even more intriguing to me because she was never named.

If you are familiar with the story of this woman, and you were asked to guess what her request to a prophet would be, you wouldn't be off if you thought marriage. Personally, I would have anticipated that she would have asked Jesus to give her a husband. Here was her chance to finally settle her "marital destiny" and put an end to countless heartbreaks. At the rate at which she was going, she could be on the 8th husband soon. If this man she spoke to was in the prophetic league of Elijah who called down fire from heaven, or Elisha whose remains raised up a dead man, then finding her a good man was the least he could do.

But alas, she didn't ask for a husband. When faced with a blank cheque, as she stood right in front of a "prophet" that could change her story, she was only interested in knowing how well to worship God. Her earnest desire, was to know whether the location mattered when worshipping (and of course whom between the Jews or Samaritans were right 😄)

So tell me this: Why do our fathers worship God on this nearby mountain, but your people teach that Jerusalem is the place where we must worship. Who is right?” - John 4:20 (TPT)

I wish I could beat my chest and say I could spend my blank cheque that way. If, we were being honest with ourselves, we wouldn't probably spend our blank cheque that way as well. With many cares and issues of life, there is a lot that one could probably ask for, if impossible was nothing. But like the Samaritan woman, I sincerely desire to seek God's Kingdom first and His righteousness, knowing fully well that every other thing would be added to me (Matthew 6:33). When Jesus taught about money and our needs in the Bible, it wasn't that there weren't important or that they were bad; it was always a matter of priority - God comes first, always.

The beauty of the scripture that I find just wonderful is the consistent stories of the ordinary people, sinners and Republicans alike - who were forever changed in the presence of His majesty. As we step into the Easter weekend, let's cast our minds back to Calvary and celebrate the good news that this same Jesus Christ, who engaged with the Samaritan at the well died and rose again for our redemption. Then let's ask God to create in us a heart of worship, one that prioritizes God above all else; because if the Samaritan woman could worship, then you can!

By the way, I personally think that the Samaritan woman was the greatest worshipper in the new testament. I will talk more about this in another post.

For now, have a blessed Easter weekend.