“Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 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.” The woman said, “I know that Messiah (called Christ) is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.” Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.”

Worship is an interesting word. It is more than just songs and hymns sung in a church or a temple. Worship means devoting yourself to someone or thing, that all of your energy and heart is focused on what pleases this person or thing. The problem with worship in Jesus’ time, as in ours, is it mostly focused on the created things instead of the Creator. The Jews, much before Jesus’ time, had issues with shifting their worship to idols. A perfect example was the “Golden Calf”. They also worshipped the evil gods of those people groups around them, like Baal and others. In Jesus’ time, many Jews worshipped their man-made systems of rules and the temple, in their attempts to look righteous on the outside. This is evidenced by their self-righteousness and rejection of the Samaritans, by race. Jesus came to this woman, and later to these people, and introduced TRUE WORSHIP — that which is BY SPIRIT AND IN TRUTH. In starts with a heart that has opened up to Jesus. He comes in and works on our hearts, no matter how messed up we are or what poor shape we are in because of sin. We hear in this woman’s belief in the Messiah. She believes his message will be different from the one of hatred and prejudice that she had experienced from the Jews. She had already been searching and waiting for the Messiah. And then … Jesus gives her a gift and tells her he is the Messiah!

The honest truth is we all need a Savior; and each of our hearts are broken beyond repair, save his healing touch. When we repent of our sins and ask Jesus to be our Lord and our Savior, we give him the right to steer the course of our lives. In return, he allows our spirit to dwell with the Holy Spirit, the third part of the triune Godhead. This is what Jesus meant when he said true worshippers will worship in spirit. Then, this relationship with God allows for us to have the confidence to be truly honest about life — our victories and our shortcomings. When we rely on God in our weaknesses, we are strong! Let us resist the temptation to practice church and throw life into autopilot mode. Instead, we can truly worship the Lord if we are humble and believe!