Woman at the Well and Worship? Part 1—God
Seeks Worshippers
By Mike Jentes
P. O. Box 8188
Columbus, OH 43201
614.291.8251
Woman at the Well.
That phrase conjures up all kinds of images in your mind if you are
familiar with the story in John chapter four.
The story of this Samaritan woman who had lived a life longing for love,
but not finding it—even in the arms of many different men.
Interestingly, the disciple who was closest to Jesus uses
this story to communicate an astounding message about God and who He is. We often get so wrapped up in the story of
this woman (and being glad we weren’t as bad as her) that we miss the depth of
what Jesus communicates to her…and even further to us.
You probably know the story well (no pun intended). Jesus asks her for a drink and the woman is
amazed that this Jewish man would even address her—a Samaritan woman. Jesus begins to use a metaphor of living
water that the woman can’t quite get her hands around. So Jesus asks her to bring him her husband,
which she cannot do. So Jesus exposes
her life by cutting to the truth—that she has had five husbands and is living
currently with another man.
The woman—like most of us—throws up a smoke screen when
Jesus starts prodding around the junk in her life. She begins to talk really
“spiritual” and “theological” (some of us are really bad at this). She spouts about the “right” place to
worship God.
At this
point, to the most exposed and humiliated and unlikely person Jesus shares an
unbelievable truth, “a time is coming and has now
come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for
they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his
worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:23-24)
The very crux of this statement is that God is spirit. Being such, He cannot be bound to a mere
mountain or temple. God is much bigger
than place. He, being spirit, isn’t
caught up in geography and distance like we mortals. God had established a place to meet with His people (the
temple)…but Jesus was introducing the new time where place wouldn’t
matter. What would matter is that God
would be worshiped everywhere.
Beyond that, we uncover God’s desire to be known and worshipped
everywhere. A place to come and meet
Him is no longer necessary. Now the time
is here when God seeks out worshippers…wherever they are.
So often we call people “seekers”…but the reality of this passage tells us that GOD IS SEEKING. God is the one on the prowl. How powerful must a “Seeker” be when he cannot be stopped by geography and distance?
God is
still a seeker…wooing those who will fall in love with Him and give their lives
up to belong to Him. God is the one who
is looking for you…what an amazing truth. The package that John put this truth
in makes it even more amazing. The
context tells us that God was seeking the Woman at the Well. WOW!
He is seeking you…will you be found in Him? Will you give all your adoration to the Seeker of your soul?
Credit for seed thoughts for this article must be given to
the following:
Neil Cole www.cmaresources.org
and Richard E. Averbeck from his excellent chapters called
“Worshiping God in Spirit” and “Worshiping God in Truth” in the book Authentic
Worship: Hearing Scriptures Voice, Applying Its Truths, general editor
Hebert W. Bateman IV, published by Kregel Publications, © 2002.
© 2003 thequest
written by Mike Jentes mike@thequestcolumbus.com
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