When Jesus happened upon the Samaritan woman at the well, He said to her, ““ Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me . . .”John 4:21a (ESV);In the full verse, it goes, “21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:21-24 NLT).

Jesus didn’t just say, meet me at this location or time; He didn’t list anything, He simply said, ““Woman, believe me . . .”John 4:21a (ESV).

Simple.

Uncomplicated.

To the point.

Albert Barnes shared the following thought, “A pure, a holy, a spiritual worship, therefore, is such as he seeks the offering of the soul rather than the formal offering of the body – the homage of the heart rather than hat of the lips.”

As I typed those words, the song, “Give Me Your Eyes” by Brandon Heath came to mind and thoughts of missionaries who were not only abroad, but also at home and whose acts of services, weren’t always what we might see or know but what we would never know, yet they held one common thing: it was all to the glory of God and to God alone, not what they could do or thought they should do, but just did.

15 Therefore by Him let us continually offer the sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of our lips, giving thanks to His name.-Hebrews 13:15 NKJV

We are asked to believe….simply just believe….not any works will mean anything without the power of the belief that goes behind it and so went Jesus conversation with the Samaritan woman.

Look at the analogy of the living water….the meaning and the power behind it and so Jesus says to us as He said to the Samaritan woman, “Woman, believe me . . .”John 4:21a (ESV).

The discussion became that of also styles of worship of which the Matthew Henry Commentary shared some insight about:

“Jesus makes it evident in his statement concerning the coming change in the religion of both Jew and Samaritan that he intends to suggest some such notion of superiority (4:21). What is necessary is spirit and truth (4:23-24), which have come in Jesus (1:17; 3:6; 20:22). Jesus’ superiority to Jacob means that both Judaism and Samaritanism have been superseded in Jesus.

Jacob gave a well that provides water, but Jesus is the giver of a greater gift, living water (4:10). The provision of living water speaks of the superiority of Jesus’ revelation to that of the old covenant, for Jesus not only brings revelation of God but gives the Spirit by which this revelation is internalized in believers, giving birth to spirit (3:6). Such is the basic thrust of this story in its revelation of Jesus and what he is doing.”

The power of Jesus’s words to the woman, is that it transcend all and simply boiled down to,“Woman, believe me . . .”John 4:21a (ESV).

We all fear.

We all doubt.

None of us are perfect and what God calls from us, isn’t perfection, but just a simple……Believe.

Participating in,”In Other Words Tuesday” and would love to have you join us, if you haven’t participate in, “In Other Words Tuesday” before and would like to find out more, just drop by the “Writing Canvas”

© 2012, Sunflower Faith. All rights reserved.

Sunflower Faith is a quiet, sometimes silly, sometimes sarcastic, sometimes serious, follower of Christ sharing words of devotion, encouragement and hope that is always about our Father in Heaven. So grab a cup of coffee and join Sunflower Faith in words of growth, hope and more all in the spirit of 2 Peter 1:5-8.

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