April 14, 2015
How Hiding Keeps You From Seeking
Gwen Smith
Today’s Truth
God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in sprit and truth. (John 4:24, ESV)
Friend to Friend
In John 4, we see a tired Jesus. He was exhausted and thirsty from the journey he and the disciples had just made from Judea to Galilee. Having sent the disciples into town for food, Jesus sat down by Jacob’s well and talked with a woman of Samaria – ignoring cultural, racial, and social norms of that day. {Jews did not associate with Samaritans and often tried to avoid Samaria all together on their journeys. In addition to that, respectable Jewish men did not talk women whom they didn’t know in public.} But Jesus was clearly not concerned with public opinion as He was on a mission of mercy.
He asked this unnamed woman for a drink then engaged her in a meaningful and purposed conversation. They talked of practical thirst, and then Jesus spoke of living water that satisfies eternally.
Not realizing whom she was talking to or what He was really talking about, this woman asked for a jar full of living water so she would never be thirsty again and so she would no longer have to make constant trips to the well. {I mean, who wouldn't want that? If I never had to buy groceries again I would be one happy girl!}
Then, in order to lovingly introduce her to the Living Water she longed for, Jesus redirected the conversation and asked her to go call her husband and come back. (v. 16)
By asking this question Jesus got all up in her personal business! Why? Because she didn't have a husband and He knew it. She’d had lover after lover.
“I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. The fact is, you have five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have said is quite true.” (John 4:17-18)
As light invades darkness, this conversation instantly went from veiled and casual to exposed and personal. I imagine she squirmed a bit under her covering and wanted to hide as she acknowledged that this man must be a prophet.
Uncomfortable, she tried to change the subject by talking about religion instead of her rebellion.
“Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:19-24)
By telling her that, God is spirit. And we are to worship him in spirit and in truth, Jesus went beneath the surface of religion to bring what really matters to the forefront: worshiping God in spirit and in truth. God seeks worshipers who come to Him in spirit – through Jesus – and in truth.
Stay with me here! This story is about to take an exciting twist!
What did Jesus mean by saying we must worship God in TRUTH? According to the BDAG Greek-English lexicon of New Testament, the root word for truth in this verse is alēthia, which means ‘hiding nothing’.[i]
To worship God in truth means that we are to come before Him hiding nothing! It means that we must bear all to the One who sees and knows all. That we should come as we are, allowing our stained hearts to be made white as snow in the presence of our holy God who dwells in unapproachable light.
Friend, God is not looking for us to be religious and He certainly knows all about the rebellion in our lives that we try to hide. He knows when you flirt with that married man at work or with an old boyfriend on Facebook. He knows when you put away bags and throw away shopping receipts before your husband gets home. He knows when you surrender to eating that entire bag of potato chips – or when you make yourself throw up your meal. He knows when gossip is on your lips and when you harbor unforgiveness, jealousy, anger, deceit and hatred in your heart.
He knows… He knows… He knows…
And he calls us to more. He calls us to a vulnerable, honest faith. To worship Him in humble awareness of our depravity, but with a sacred awareness of His grace and unfailing love that binds us to forgiveness, restoration, healing, peace, hope and joy.
Today, let’s worship Him in spirit and in truth – hiding nothing.
Let’s Pray
Holy Father, Oh, how I try to hide! Forgive me. Please fill me with Your living water and help me to know and live out Your truth. Lead me with Your Spirit, today.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
Now It’s Your Turn
READ 1 Peter 5:6-7. Write it down in your journal or on a 3x5 index card. Consider what this would look like for you. If you’re ready to stop hiding in worship, I sure would love to hear about it and pray for you. Click here to leave a comment on my blog.
More from the Girlfriends
Are you struggling to trust that God’s love can bring beauty to your life?Learn how God wants to bring you beyond your past heart-wounds and your present challenges to His wholeness, strength and beauty. Broken into Beautiful is a book filled with stories – real stories … gritty and honest, not cleaned up and phony. It’s also filled with Scripture that will inspire you toward the life-changing grace of Jesus. To order the book, go to Amazon or, for a signed copy, visit Gwen’s web store.
[i]Arndt, W., Danker, F. W., & Bauer, W. (2000). A Greek-English lexicon of the New Testament and other early Christian literature (3rd ed., p. 42). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
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