John 4:5-42 Immediately after Jesus told the woman of Samaria that she had five husbands and that the man she now had was not her husband, she changed the subject. She saw that this Man knew well her history, but she was not willing to go into it with Him. She proceeded to ask Him a theological question. How like human nature. When someone is getting too close to the truth in our own lives—our own sin and shortcomings—we want to change the subject. The woman asked Jesus where He believed was the correct place of worship. The answer Jesus gave is revealing. “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him” (vv. 21-23).
True worship is not dependent upon the location. It is dependent upon our being led by the Spirit of God. Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. The Father seeks those who will worship Him in spirit and truth. What does this mean? We must allow the Holy Spirit to interpret God’s truth to us. Without Him the Word of God is just black words on white paper. It is the Holy Spirit that ignites the Word in our hearts. I recently went to a wedding, and it was lovely. The pastor read from Scripture, and it was good, but it lacked the anointing. He was just reading words without submitting to the power of the Holy Spirit who is able to make every word in God’s Word have dynamite power. The Holy Spirit is able to impart faith to us, and faith must be mixed with the Word for it to avail anything.
Our pastor is well aware of the importance of the Spirit of Truth conveying God’s truth to us. One Sunday as usual he had prepared for his message, but as he began to read the Word, he knew there was something missing. The anointing that breaks every yoke of bondage was not there, so he closed his Bible and told us to go home and seek the Lord on our own. This was probably the best thing that ever happened to some of us because we saw how we cannot be dependent upon a pastor. We must be dependent upon the Holy Spirit to be our teacher and our worship leader. Worship without the anointing of the Holy Spirit is not pleasing in God’s sight. He desires for us to worship Him in both spirit and truth. The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth, and only He can impart God’s Word to us and lead our worship in the way that pleases God.
Lord, let me be led by the Holy Spirit as I worship You.
READ: Judges 21:1-Ruth 1:22; John 4:5-42; Psalm 105:1-15; Proverbs 14:25
