John 4: 19-24
Reading and reflecting on Jesus’ interaction with this woman of Samaria stirs up some interesting insights worthy of note. Not quite sure the reason for the sudden switch of subject from verse 19 into 20 – maybe the woman was uncomfortable with the line of discussion given that Jesus mentioned she has had five husbands already.
However, the insight here is based on their conversation from verses 20-24. The place (venue) of worship was a controversial issue between the Samaritans and the Jews. The Samaritans believed that the place of worship is on mount Gerizim where their fathers worshipped. But the Jews insisted that the place of worship is in Jerusalem.
The Samaritan woman for sure expected a political answer from Jesus. But Jesus in His infinite wisdom stayed clear from the proposed argument and rather focused on a weightier issue that caught my attention. Jesus’ response invokes a deeper revelation that the place of worship (where) is not as important as ‘who’ is worshipped, and ‘how’ the worship is rendered.
Any person, place or thing, that takes first place or priority (above God) in our lives is the ‘who’ we worship! The Bible encourages us not to have any other God than the Living God (Exodus 20:). The place (where) of worship pales in significance when we entertain idols in our heart. God expects to be number one, and first priority in our lives!
In Spirit and truth refers to how we worship God – the motive behind what we do, the sincerity of our hearts, and alignment to the truth of his word. Worship is a matter of the heart. God does not condone lip service; He wants us to love Him sincerely, passionately, and intimately (Luke 10: 27).
Folks, when we have the ‘who’ and ‘how’ correctly aligned, the ‘where’ does not really matter as much, because we can truly connect with God anywhere – in our home, in church, in the marketplace, at work, in the car, etc.
This is a guest post from Folfem. You can visit his blog ” grace4djourney” for similar Christian messages.
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