Here is a book that is sure to change hearts, challenge lives, and deepen even the deepest faith. Various authors including Max Lucado, Charles Swindoll, Joni Earikson Tada, Gary Smalley Patsy Clairmont, Corrie ten Boom, and Philip Yancey blend their tremendous talents and insightful intimacy with God to create a powerful and pivotal book for Christian living. Inspired by the bestselling Opening Windows praise and worship recording featuring Max Lucado, this book is a must read for those who want to move beyond the status quo and into a life of deeper faith, more meaningful prayer, and greater intimacy with God. Its refreshing approach and challenging messages make for a book you will want to read for yourself and give to those you love.
Chapter 1 "Open to the Wonder of Worship"
She comes to the well at noon. Why? Why not at dawn as did the other women? Doesn t make sense unless it was the other women she sought to avoid. Maybe the heat of the sun was more bearable than the heat of their gossip. So she comes to the well at noon.
But today she s not alone. A stranger sits at the base of the well, legs outstretched, eyes closed. Face moist from the heat. The woman looks around and sees no one else. When she looks back, His eyes are open and looking at her. Embarrassed, she turns away.
He stands and asks her for a drink of water.
Her response is salty with distrust, You are a Jew and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink? (John 4:9). The woman has reason to be cautious. She knows what men really mean when they ask for favors. The wall is up. Jesus removes the top brick.
If you only knew the free gift of God and who it is that is asking you for water, you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water (v. 10 ncv).
No lecture. No speeches. No homilies on how far he had come to help. No finger-pointing at her past. None of that. Just an appeal. An appeal for trust.
If only you knew that I have come to help and not condemn. If only you knew that tomorrow will be better than today. If only you knew the gift I have brought: eternal life endless, tearless, graveless life if only you knew.
The woman is slow to trust.
The high sun casts short shadows of the two. She still holds her jug. He still holds her attention. Whoever drinks the water I give will never be thirsty. The water I give will become a spring of water gushing up inside that person, giving eternal life (v. 14 ncv).
The words connect. She pilgrims a parched desert. Face furrowed. Eyes searching. Endless sage and sorrow. Every oasis a wavy mirage. Five times love pledged. Five times love failed. She s been thirsty so long.
Sir, give me this water so I will never be thirsty again (v. 15 ncv).
Now she removes a few bricks. Her distrust still great, her desperation still greater she s willing to take the risk.
So is Jesus. But one wall still stands. There is one obstacle remaining. The teacher gently invites her to dismantle it. Go get your husband and come back here (v. 16 ncv).
She winces at the words. My husband? My husband! I don t want to talk about my husband. Talk to me about water. About eternal life. Talk to me about anything but the part of my life that hurts the most.
She looks into the eyes of this Jew and wonders what is behind them. He is different. He doesn t treat me like other Jews. He doesn t look at me like other men. She could change the subject. She could ignore the question. She could lie. But none of that seems right. So she removes what remains of the wall between them.
I have no husband (v. 17).
Read slowly Jesus response. You are right to say you have no husband. Really you have had five husbands, and the man you live with now is not your husband. You told the truth (v. 18 ncv).
That s all Jesus seeks. That we tell the truth. That we come out of hiding. An encounter with Christ is midnight at the masquerade. Time to remove the mask.
And so she does. With the walls down and the mask off, she entrusts him with her deepest yearning. Sir, I can see that you are a prophet. Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you [Jews] say that Jerusalem is the place where people must worship (vv. 19-20 ncv).
Don t misinterpret what the woman is doing with this question.
She s not avoiding Jesus; she s inviting Jesus. She s not closing up; she s opening up. She s escorting this teacher up to the edge of the darkest cave in her world and asking him if he has a candle.
Let me tell you where I really hurt, she is saying. Let me tell you what keeps me awake at night. Not the rejection. I m used to being lonely. I can stand having no husband. What I cannot stand is not knowing where God is. Can you tell me?
Pain distills the deep questions.
There in the shadow of the well of Sychar, to a rejected woman, God explains the mystery of worship.
He tells her that a day is coming when the place of worship won t make any difference. A time is coming and has come when the where and the when of worship will not matter. What matters is the heart.
When the woman heard this she smiled. She knew what Jesus meant, and she told Him. I know that the Messiah is coming. When the Messiah comes, he will explain everything to us (v. 25 ncv).
The moment is magical.
It s Lindbergh spotting the land through the clouds. It s Handel pounding on his piano the final measure of The Messiah.
It s the Messiah finding a Messiah-seeker.
It s the definition of worship. A hungry heart finding the Father s feast. A searching soul finding the Father s face. A wandering pilgrim spotting the Father s house. Finding God. Finding God seeking us. This is worship. This is a worshiper.
