Ambrose J. Chakre
God is Spirit and his worshippers must worship in Spirit and in truth. John 4:24
[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t is shocking to see that Christ revealed the secret of worship to a woman whose life was so defiled by her continuous acts of adultery with so many men. Jesus did what the legalistic rulers wouldn’t. and in doing what He did, He introduced grace and truth to all who were in need of it. Having travelled a long distance towards Galilee, Jesus came to a town in Samaria called Sychar (which he had to cross through) near the plot of ground Jacob had given to his son Joseph. Tired as He was from the journey, He sat down by the well in about the sixth hour. In His thirst for water, Jesus asked a Samaritan woman who came to fetch water for a drink. This startled the woman and in her astonishment, she said to Him “You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans). To this Jesus answered her, “ If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.The woman in her eagerness to knows more of it said, Sir, you have nothing to draw water with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us this well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his flocks and herds? In answer to this Jesus replied “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed the water I give him will become a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” In continuation of the conversation, the woman said to Him, “Sir, give me this water so that I wont get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.” He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.” 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 had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true. Sir, the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshipped on the mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.” Jesus declared, “Believe me woman, 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 worshippers will worship the Father in Spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and 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 who speak to you am He” ( John 4:1-26 ). This final declaration of Christ must certainly have convicted the woman and whoever she was, she was so fortunate to have met and conversed with Christ. And whatever her name was, I believe her new name in heaven will be as beautiful as her new appearance will be. This 24th verse of the 4th chapter of John which states God is Spirit and His worshipers must worship in Spirit and truth” is a very powerful verse which is often preached in so many churches and indeed her spirit must be certainly excited at the prospect of her name appearing in the Holy Scriptures. In fact almost the whole verses of the fourth chapter of John are centered on this and it gives us so many reasons to think of her as a blessed woman who renounced her life of sin and embraced Christ as her personal savior. The truth is, this sacred verse and revelation was not revealed first to the Jews, but it was revealed to her a sinner, a woman (of Samaritan origin) whose life had been as dark as her sins were. I know what this is certainly causing some to think and I trust you will not be disappointed as you read on. The point is: She not only believed and embraced the truth but she led many to it. And just as the Scriptures states “ Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitudes of sins( James 5:20 ). In doing what she did, the acts of her latter ways became a ray of light to millions because of God’s favor and grace. The truth is that she came to Christ because God gave her to him and the result of her acceptance of Christ not only delivered her from her sins but she also became a servant of the Most High( John 6:37 ) ( John 66:44 ). The woman who met Christ was a former sinner but in embracing the new life she became what Christ wanted her to be. This demands total attention and I trust you will be certainly be revived as you embrace the Word of Life for God’s glory. Being revived by Christ, she revived her people by testifying to them about Christ. The holy Scriptures states “Those who are wise will shine like the brightness of the heavens, and those who leads many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever (Daniel 12:3). This promise is for every one who believes and I urge everyone to embrace holiness. She was the woman who met Christ and in believing in Him, she committed herself totally in dong His will. As the scriptures states “ I love those who loves me and those who seek me will find me( Proverbs 8:17 ),the acts of her ways certainly depicted her love for Christ and her passion for the truth. Just as Christ loved her, her admiration and passion for Christ only grew stronger as she got more connected to the truth. That was then and this is now. The present situation we now face is just a phase of our journey towards heaven. In the past we had lived as sinners and would have perished in our sins but God in His mercy still reaches out to us through His Word. This calls for repentance and commitment on the part of the bride and the Church of God and it is our prayer for every sinner to come to the way of truth. God desires us, His bride and Church to be holy , righteous and pure as we await Christ’ second coming. For the ones who are truly His will be accepted, and for the ones who are not will be cast into the fiery lake of fire.wed draw our attention to what is important and wed shall never give upon you till you are saved. The message of the Word of God has been preached and written; those who accepts and believes it will be saved. This is a message of repentance and salvation preached and written to seek and save the lost. Accept it. Believe it and be connected to the truth. We are the lovers of truth, the bride, the Church of our holy God. God loves holiness.
