We All Worship Something
Everybody in this world worships something. Some people worship their money and power. Some, their particular way of life. We can even worship other people like political leaders and celebrities. Many of these things and people seem to give hope in the prospect of success, freedom, love, companionship and even acceptance.
The problem is that we all have issues in our life from which we desperately need rescued. Too often we choose to go about fixing these problems ourselves by covering our sorrows with thoughts and behaviors that leave us feeling worse. We try to fill our emptiness with experiences, relationships and substances that betray us and keep us just as empty as ever.
We Need An Answer
The question isn’t have you ever felt like this, but how long do you want to keep living like this? There is an answer, and it lies in what you worship. Evidenced by the way you live, speak and act, what you worship is the very thing you deem most important and valuable in your life. It will either keep you empty or fill you up overflowing. Allow me to relate to you a story about a person dealing with serious problems in her life and the only way she could be rescued from them.
A Samaritan woman went to get some water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink of water.” The Samaritan woman asked him, “How can a Jewish man like you ask a Samaritan woman like me for a drink of water?” (Jews, of course, don’t associate with Samaritans.) Jesus replied to her…Everyone who drinks this water will become thirsty again. But those who drink the water that I will give them will never become thirsty again. In fact, the water I will give them will become in them a spring that gushes up to eternal life.”
…Jesus then told her, ”Go to your husband, and bring him here. “The woman replied, “I don’t have a husband.” Jesus told her, “You’re right when you say that you don’t have a husband. You’ve had five husbands, and the man you have now isn’t your husband. You’ve told the truth…Indeed, the time is coming, and it is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth…” The woman said to him, “I know that the Messiah is coming. When he comes, he will tell us everything.” (Messiah is the one called Christ.) Jesus told her, “I am he, and I am speaking to you now.” John 4
In this account from the book of John in the Bible, we read that Jesus knew this woman’s circumstances before she had a chance to tell him. He told her that He can offer her true help and true deliverance. If the water in the well represents our own attempts to make things right in our lives, Jesus says that we will have to constantly be working but never satisfy ourselves. Jesus offers her a better way by saying that the water He has will take care of the emptiness, the hurt, the sorrow and the guilt she carries with her, once and for all. The conversation immediately moved to worship.
God Wants Worshipers
Jesus told her that God, the father of all people, is looking for us to worship Him. When we worship the things around us, we stay empty and have to constantly try to fix our circumstances on our own, with futility. But when we place value and worth on God by choosing to live for Him, we receive help, healing, love, compassion, understanding and more from a loving, caring being who created the universe. From a being who is seeking worshipers who He can bless. From a God who gives help that really works and satisfies, just like the water Jesus was offering the woman at the well.
So what are we going to do about it? Do you need living water? Do you need satisfied? Have you been trying to do everything on your own? Jesus says to worship God and be satisfied. In the story, the last thing Jesus says is “I am He…” If she could believe that, then her life could be changed forever. When you accept God as real and true and accept His son, Jesus, as the Messiah, you become transformed into something new. Everything that defined you before; your sin, your own attempts to be righteous, your past; are removed by God’s power and grace. You have a new hope on earth and eternity in heaven with God.
At the end of this story, the whole town meets Jesus and they say, “we know that he really is the savior of the world.” (John 4:42) Can you say that? Can you say that He is the savior of your life?
Simply ask Him to be the savior of your world.
If you would like to know more about what you have read here, I encourage you to speak with someone who can help you personally. Please contact Word & Worship Church.
