28th March 2025

Everywhere Worship

The hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshippers

will worship the Father in spirit and truth;

for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.

John 4:23

Today's Bible Reading: John 4:7–24.

Who were the Samaritans? According to 2 Kings 17, after the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria in 722bc and most of its people taken into exile, other captured peoples were brought in to populate the region known as Samaria (v 24). When they first arrived, they didn’t “worship the Lord,” and so God sent lions among them (v. 25). Then the king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest to the land to teach the people how to worship God, but the people continued to worship other gods (v 27–29). The Samaritans came from this exchange of peoples and mixture of beliefs.

Although the Bible affirms the vital, important nature of gathering together for corporate worship (Hebrews 10:25), God is not bound within the walls of a church building. During His conversation with the Samaritan woman at the well, the Lord Jesus defied all expectations of the Messiah (John 4:9). Instead of condemnation, Jesus spoke truth and loved her as she stood next to that well (v 10). He revealed His intimate and sovereign knowledge of His children (v 17–18). Proclaiming His deity, Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit evoked true worship from the hearts of God’s people, not from a specific physical location (v 23–24).

When we focus on who God is, what He has done, and all He has promised, we can rejoice in His constant presence as we worship Him with other believers, in church, in our living-room, and everywhere!

Today's Prayer: Great God, please help me worship You as I rejoice in who You are, what You have done, and all You promise to do. In the lovely name of Jesus. Amen.

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