by Pastor Afolabi Oladele

The woman saith unto him, Sir, I perceive that thou art a prophet. Our fathers worshipped in this mountain; and ye say, that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship. Jesus saith unto her, Woman, believe me, the hour cometh, when ye shall neither in this mountain, nor yet at Jerusalem, worship the Father. Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth. John 4:19-24

The conversation of the woman at the beginning was based, not on personal experiential knowledge of either God or of God’s desire toward man, His chief creation. It was based on second hand information. The first lesson for us is that we can only go so far in the defense of our faith based on second hand knowledge of God.

1 Samuel 17:38-42 documents David’s experience in the day of battle and raises important questions for every true child of God. Can a man go to war in an unproven armor? No, and certainly not in another man’s armor! The events of our days are crying testimonials that you can only stand on what you have proved of God. A man must have experienced God’s capacity and capability as refuge and fortress to be able to run into Him for safety in the day of trouble. No wonder Paul cried out emphatically in Philippians 3:10-14 of the need to know Him.

This was the lesson taught in the conversation at the well side. This truth is reaffirmed in Jeremiah 29:12-14 and was important enough for the Lord in the discourse with His disciples in Matthew 16:13-17. You need to have tarried long enough in His presence, filled hunger for Him, to satisfactorily answer who He is to you; and the question is how long will it take each of us as individuals to reach this point where our walk with Him goes beyond hearsay. Selah

Photo by Pascal Bernardon on Unsplash