Sin And Worship

Sometimes God does it through the Holy Spirit, working in our lives. Other times he works through people, members of the body of Christ coming up to us, in the power of the Spirit; sometimes God speaks through the Bible to speak that truth into our lives. God pursues us, and seeks us out, calling to us, until we are ready to open up that area of our lives. Jesus got the woman’s attention, and she invites him give her the better water, the one that truly satisfies. Jesus will do the same for you as well, BUT he will do it, but only at YOUR invitation.

When we invite Christ into our lives, He will start to effect the area of our life where we need the most change. Let me illustrate: In verse 16 Jesus opens up the key area, the one, most sensitive place, where she has most walled up. "Go, call your husband..." Husband? O no! Husband? I’ve had 5, and they never worked out. Jesus hit the most sensitive place in her life, the place where she experienced the most failure and shame. He hit her past life’s failure that she was trying to hide.

THIS NEXT POINT IS CRITICAL...WHAT WILL YOU DO WHEN THE HOLY SPIRIT REVEALS A WOUNDED PLACE IN THE HEART? Notice what she did in verse 17. She could have said, OK and left. She could have turned away. But she didn’t . She stayed there in the presence of Jesus. And confessed. “ I HAVE NO HUSBAND.”

When we confess, when we agree with Jesus that we’re hopelessly defeated in a certain area, we’re allowing Christ to enter into that place of brokenness. And to give the woman some credit, she didn’t back away. BUT, How many of us do? When we face something too painful, do we revert back to our old ways when the spirit is clearly prompting us to look at it, examine it, and bring it to him?

Even though she did not back away, she did try to change the subject. When God catches us in the blinding light of his the power and presence we often try to squirm, avoid the subject, run away. We don’t like being there, but God is relentless. Once you invite Him to address an area, he is not content until you begin to look at it like He does.

How does he do it? God invites us to enter His Presence and simply Worship. We see this played out in verses 21-26. Jesus invited her to see Him for who He really is. He was inviting her to give up the inferior things, things that don’t really satisfy. Why? In order to get the best, you have to give up the rest.

What was he wanting for her and us is True Worship. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 4:10: “‘You must worship the Lord your God; serve him only.’” In other words, focus on God alone and respond or act accordingly. Here’s the way that life is supposed to work. “The more we focus on God, the more we understand and appreciate how worthy He is.” Then we respond with gratitude, with joy, with a willingness to forgive others, and with love for God and people created in his image.

People often confuse singing or praying or shouting praise or raising hands or reading the Bible as worship, but they are not. They may lead us to worship, but they are not worship in and of themselves. Worship is intentional focus on God and response to him.