“You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” — John 4:22-23
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By the time of Christ, the people of Samaria had become a mixed-race people with some Jewish heritage. Historically, they often sided with Israel’s enemies and were despised by the Jews. Many Samaritans followed Jewish rituals and worship practices out of a ritualistic tradition. Hebrews, on the other hand, were heirs of the covenant promises of God, and the Lord fully revealed Himself, His character and His plans to Israel in Scripture.
Many people who claim to be Christians do the same today. Going to church and “worshiping God” is just a ritual that brings them temporary comfort, but in their hearts they do not know God. Jesus proclaimed in John 17:3, “Now this is eternal life: that they may know You, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom You have sent.”
We must worship according to the truth of Scripture. We must worship the Lord God as He has revealed Himself, not as we think He is or as we would like Him to be.
John taught in 1 John 5:20, “We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true. And we are in Him who is true — even in His Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.”
The only way to know God, the creator of the heavens and the earth, and have an authentic, eternal relationship with Him, is to believe in God’s Word and His Son, Jesus Christ.
— Jerry Birch, Cleveland Cavaliers chaplain
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