You Worship What You Do Not Know

John 4:22
...."You worship what you do not know."

Strange word worship.
Usually only thought of within the confines of some religious ceremony or group. Such as ...."We went to a worship service" or "Come worship with us".
Jesus, in John 4, was having a conversation with a woman who had come to draw water from the well where he was seated. One topic of conversation lead to another until it began to be centered on who you worship and where you worship. Jesus was slowly leading this young lady into some truth that she was not aware of (or at least had a bias against..I'm not sure which)

Jesus told her..."You worship what you do not know." Strange statement when you think about it. Jesus was saying one of two things. 1.) You are unaware of the implications of your worship since you aren't really in touch with the "who" you are worshiping...or (2.) You don't really realize that you are worshipping something or someone.

To me, worship is something that you don't choose to do. It is a lifestyle that is reflected in your every word and deed. It defines who you are as a person and what you believe in you daily walk. It is the act of turning to God and saying with you entire daily life...word, deed, intent, thought...that Jesus is your Lord and Savior. Didn't we worship in that old life style? Didn't we give ourselves to whatever drug we chased and whatever relationship (no matter how sick it was) we chased? Sure we did. But we never thought of it as worship. We never really considered ourselves to be worshipping the devil and his kingdom, did we? But we were....we were all up in the first church of the kingdom of darkness. In other words, we gave ourselves to something or someone. We proclaimed our allegiance. We sacrificed our future and the promises of God to a substance ...to a power behind the substance. How scary is that? All the while thinking that we had made wise decisions. Just like it says in Proverbs 14:12 -- There is a way that seems right to man, but its end is death.

Funny part in the John 4 statement of "you worship what you do not know," is the intent for Jesus to reveal himself. John 17:3 states that the reason God gave us eternal life is so that we might know him. He wants to reveal himself to us..for us to know (with our hearts and not just our heads) him and his promises, plans and Kingdom rule he desires us to be a part of. I am learning the importance of my choosing to place God at the center of every area of my life. Allowing him the right and the freedom to be the one showing me how to live and navigate through this old world.

Remove the word worship from your old way of thinking and push it up to the front. Realize that you daily walk truly does reveal who you are worshiping, so why not make it count for something. Why not look into Jesus....He's got the answers. (Thank you Larry Norman).

God on you....
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Hope to see you this Saturday night for Vineyard Recovery. We are going to be looking at Romans Chapter 1. Pretty good stuff!
Thanks for stopping by the Greene Street letters.
See you tomorrow.