About Worship

John 4:¹⁵ “Please, sir,” the woman said, “give me this water! Then I’ll never be thirsty again, and I won’t have to come here to get water.” ¹⁶ “Go and get your husband,” Jesus told her.

Imagine someone has become obese and critically ill from eating a lot of unhealthy food. The first thing the doctors will do to save that person is to replace junk food with healthy food. Similarly, Jesus was saying to the Samaritan woman and to us, the things you are using to fill that void must first be presented to and surrendered to Jesus before you can get the Living Waters. A person can be saved, sanctified and heaven bound but there is still something else that is filling that quest, that inner craving in your life. For some people it is a football club, for others, it is binging on television and yet for some it is gossip.

So when you show up before Jesus, as you have shown up today, Jesus will not ask you where is your husband because that is not your issue. Jesus is going to ask you where is your _________ -You fill in the gaps. The emptiness, the pull of this world, the cravings that we are having is all about one thing and that is worship.

The temptations of Jesus – turn stones to bread, jump from the peak – they were just entry points. The crux of the matter was satan was trying to get Jesus to bow down to him and worship. It is all about worship – one hundred percent.

John Piper says, “God is most glorified in us when we are more satisfied in Him.” But the converse is also true; we are more satisfied in life when God is most glorified in us. When we are dissatisfied in life, check! If you want satisfaction in life, live for the glory of God. I am not saying your life will be perfect, it cannot be perfect until you see Jesus. But you can have a full and satisfying life, you can have a stream of waters that is flowing, the Living Waters Jesus is talking about. For your life to be full and satisfying, it must just be about God.

John 4:^23-24 “But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (emphasis added). When you come before God, it should not be about your spouse. It should not be about your quest for a good husband. The Samaritan woman had been through four husbands. Her life teaches us that no man can fully satisfy you, it is impossible. The only person that can fully satisfy you is Jesus. Do not put the weight of what only God can do upon any human being. It is unfair.

Prayer (song): No foreign god can take Your place (3x). It’s You that I love (2x). Amen!