God is Seeking

 Jesus said to her, “Go, call your husband, and come here.” The woman answered him, “I have no husband.” Jesus said to her, “You are right in saying, ‘I have no husband’; for you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband. What you have said is true.” The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.” Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” The woman said to him, “I know that Messiah is coming (he who is called Christ). When he comes, he will tell us all things.” Jesus said to her, “I who speak to you am he” (John 4:16-26).

Today our Teacher shows us that Jesus, God in the flesh (see John 1:14), went very intentionally to a foreign land filled with despised people looking for someone He could reveal Himself as Messiah to. He met with a Samaritan woman who came seeking water and He offered her much more… “Whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” (John 4:14). The Jesus went to work confronting her with truth that moved her to call Him a prophet. Jesus wanted her to confess the sinful condition of her heart so He could deliver her from the stronghold of brokenness and rejection that held her prisoner. When she focused the conversation on religious matters Jesus was persistent and confronted her again with the truth that God was seeking her out. God was pursuing this woman because He knew her heart could be healed if she would heed His call to worship Him in spirit and truth. Truth seekers are encouraged today to become the kind of worshipers that God is seeking.

Sometimes the Spirit reveals a truth that compels us to say, WOW! Today He teaches that God is looking for a particular kind of people. Could God be looking for you? Wouldn't it be encouraging knowing that you are the object of God’s interest and longing? What kind of people is God seeking? What happens when God connects with someone that He has been seeking?

God is BIG… “Thus says the LORD: ‘Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool’ (Isaiah 66:1). God is EVERYWHERE… “Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD? Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD?” (Jeremiah 23:24). God is BUSY… “My Father is working until now, and I am working” (John 5:17). And today we learn that God is looking for someone special… “The eyes of the LORD run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to give strong support to those whose heart is blameless toward him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). We notice that what God is seeking is a matter of the heart. The Spirit echoes the truth here that God does not look at the exterior of men and women. God looks into the heart… “For the LORD sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7).

God is not looking for the wise, powerful, or famous… “For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong” (1 Corinthians 1:26-27). God is seeking a particular kind of heart, and our heart is revealed in our worship… “For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks” (Matthew 12:34). God seeks worship that reveals a heart fully surrendered to His Spirit… “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit” (Galatians 5:25). God seeks worship that reveals a heart immersed in and set apart by His truth… “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

As we grow up into Christ worshiping in spirit and truth, we become the kind of worshipers that…

God is Seeking.