Do you “Came to Draw Water?”

Read John 4:1-26

What does this passage tell us about worship?

Our worship of God is predicated on our view and concept of God. This all rests on who Jesus is and has done for us. In this mindset, we can trust Him for He does exist and is involved. This also means we are not to look to anything but Christ for Who and What God is (Ex. 20:4; John 1:1-18; 8:58; 10:30-33; Rom. 1:20; 9:5; 2 Cor. 4:4; Eph. 1:19-23;Phil. 2:6; 6:16; Col. 1:15; Titus 2:13; 1 Tim. 1:17; 6:16; Heb. 1:3, 8; 11:27).

This passage calls us to extol Christ, to worship in spirit and in truth.

This is a worship of Jesus Who is Truth, of Christ as LORD. He is the only Way to God that we are to recognize with our spirit and soul. This is not based on location or liturgy or externals and formalities; rather, it is recognizing Christ our Savior and Lord with proper attitudes and motives. This also means a sacrifice of our hearts over animals and an offering of praise over burnt offerings. This is not about the Holy Spirit here; rather, Jesus is emphasizing a manner of heart and obedience from our gratitude over and above ceremonial requirements and orders.

This is also a transformational call to true worship, as the Church transitions from the provisional Law of ceremony to honor God’s holiness to honoring God with our grateful hearts for giving us unearned and unmerited salvation and by placing the Living Holy Spirit in us. This impact from the Spirit nourishes, invigorates, and empowers us to deal with life here and now. His qualities and character become real in us and are modeled as real to others around us.

This empowerment gives us salvation and builds our maturity so we can have joy and contentment, purpose and meaning. It allows us to know we are deeply loved and makes us able to replicate that love to others. In that way, we can worship Him in power and adoration, to a deeper level than we could do without that growth (1 Sam. 10:5; 1 Chron. 25:1-6; John 3:3:21; 14:6; Acts 4:12; Rom. 1:25; 9:4-5; Phil. 3:1-14).

In so doing, real Christians give real, effectual, true worship from a heart that truly loves God, are grateful for His work, and are dedicated to true Truth—not to schemes, trends, or feelings. This is also in contrast to the worship services that are merely rhetoric and by obligation, meaningless ritual and liturgy that just spins one’s pride and/or hides one’s heart (John 1:18; ; 3:3; 14:16-18; Acts 2:33).

Questions and thoughts to ponder:

1. What does it mean to you that only God satisfies us, not the pursuance of pleasures, fulfillment of desires, or even sin?

2. How can this help you form a deeper trust and relationship with Christ?

3. What will it take for you to make a further commitment to pursue your faith and spiritual growth in a richer and deeper way?

4. How can that help fuel you to further persevere in your spiritual gifts, relationships, opportunities, and purpose or call?

5. How can you have more focused worshipful experiences with our Lord? What do you need to do to make this happen?