God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. John 4:24 (NIV)

Living Out Worship – Worship and Water Series – Part 3

Go to  PART 1  |  PART 2  |  PART 3  |  PART 4  |  PART 5  |  PART 6  |  PART 7  |  PART 8

Jesus offered a Samaritan woman spiritual Living Water. She then asked Jesus if she could drink some of this “Living Water” he was offering. He responded by asking her to bring her husband to the well too.

“But I’m not married.” She answered.
“That’s true,” Jesus said, “for you’ve been married five times and now you’re living with a man who is not your husband. You have told the truth.”
The woman said, “You must be a prophet! So tell me this: Why do our fathers worship God here on this nearby mountain, but your people teach that Jerusalem is the place where we must worship. Which is right?”

(She was asking, “How do we worship? How do we get this right? How do we know we’re drinking the right water the right way?”)

Jesus responded, “Believe me, dear woman, the time has come when you won’t worship the Father on a mountain nor in Jerusalem, but in your heart. Your people don’t really know the One they worship. We Jews worship out of our experience, for it’s from the Jews that salvation is made available. From here on, worshipping the Father will not be a matter of the right place but with the right heart. For God is a Spirit, and he longs to have sincere worshippers who worship and adore him in the realm of the Spirit and in truth.”

There're a few things at play in this story, and I’m going to list them to try and reduce confusion (mostly mine… haha!)

1) In Rabbinic tradition, “Living Water” represented the true knowledge of God; not in information, but in presence. Think about being surrounded and immersed in water – birth, baptism, cleansing. It traditionally symbolizes flow, loving-kindness, intimacy and transformation.

2) The Jewish word for the knowledge of God implies that the knowing comes from intimacy and relationship. Thus reinforcing ultimate presence. (Living Water).

3) Worship means “to kiss the hand of the king (or deity), to express profound reverence, affection, and adoration.” It’s a submissive and humble posture. It’s not self-deprecating. Rather, it is the position of opening up your heart to the Divine. Vulnerable and authentic. Understanding that He is the source and us, the vessel.

I’ve heard it preached that God demands our worship, in the sense that he requires it – his dominion and majesty feed off it and need it.

What love exists in a kiss if it is demanded? What good is reverence if it is conjured up out of fear and performance to appease and be approved? Can transformation take place by force? Does domination create divine flow? Can true relationship and intimacy take place in a controlled environment?

Over the years, I’ve come to the conclusion that the all-powerful, divine, unmeasurable, unknowable and mysterious God, the ground of being, the essence of life, does not NEED my worship to survive. He can get by just fine without it.

Worship is what happens in our spirit when we see God for who he really is. It’s our soul's response to the divine, the way our spirit feels when we drink living water. It’s us saying “we see you God, and we love you…”

Worship is how we drink “Living Water” – it’s our awareness and openness to God. Divine flow. Connection. An alliance of love.

The Samaritan woman wanted to know how to get her hands on Christ’s supernatural thirst quencher, then she wanted to know how to worship properly. And Jesus basically responded with:

Open hands. Open Heart. Anytime. Anywhere.

She had told Jesus the truth about her life. That's the kind of truth He seeks from us. Spirit and truth – aware and honest.

Worship is our response to the divine. Not demanded but offered from a heart that sees God and longs to be seen by him.

Over to you… What are your thoughts on worship? Leave us a comment below.

Go to Part 4 – Worship Him »

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