- Continued from Part 1 -

From 2 Corinthians 5:17-18 (The Message Translation):

“…Anyone united with the Messiah gets a fresh start, is created new. The old life is gone; a new life burgeons! Look at it! All this comes from the God who settled the relationship between us and him, and then called us to settle our relationships with each other. God put the world square with himself through the Messiah, giving the world a fresh start by offering forgiveness of sins.”

Get this right, this does not mean that life is going to be perfect like you wake up everyday with all your problems solved or drive a Ferrari complete with escorts, Ipod, laptop, and a Christian shirt – nope, you will still have to study hard, work for your food, face family problems, .  What this means is that you have inside you a force that can make life so meaningful and beautiful even if everything outside you is so bad.  It also means you can face this world with assurance that the Lord loves you.  God is so real. 

 

3.  Jesus sees the potential in you. (verses 23-24. 39-42)

 

Towards the end of the narrative, Jesus talks about the right worship.  Many of us think that true worship can only take place inside the right ceremonial hall.  You’re not alone.  Even the Samaritan woman argued that the mountain where the Samaritan community was living was the rightful place of worship and not Jerusalem where the Temple was located.  Jesus counters this profoundly: true worship is not about being in the right place.  Look at Christ’s response from verses 23-24:

“It’s who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That’s the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration.”

This reply must shock all of us who still think that God is pleased by the number of times we pray or kneel down or not eat something or the like.  True worship is being true inside and outside.  So even if you feel hurt, you can tell that to God.  If you feel jubilant, you can tell that to God, too.  But even better, when you have Christ inside you, the outward actions and internal motivations are guided by God and hence the whole life becomes in itself the act of worship.  God changes you inside and out.

 

That’s exactly what happened to the Samaritan woman.  In the latter verses (39-42), we see that she starts telling people about her encounter with Christ.  Take note, it’s the same woman who everyday of her life avoids the public eye.  Now she’s the first person to tell the world that Jesus lives. 

 

Christ simply brought out the best in her.  She had the talent of convincing people (which I’m sure she used to allure her men) but now God transformed it into something noble and eternal.  Minus, of course, the shame, guilt, and bitterness. 

 

Christ wants to bring out the best in you and me.  He can make use of everything that you and I have for something that is more noble, beautiful, and worthwhile.  When we are able to commit our lives to Christ, our whole life can be changed for the better and everything we do can be worthwhile.  What that means is that the whole life becomes in itself the act of worship.

 

To answer the question “Who am I?”, you and I need to go back to the One who says He is the great “I am”.  He is, after all, our Creator, and therefore, He knows the best in us.  Sometimes, we are blinded by our own definitions of ourselves - maybe based on how others see us, talk about us, what we own and do not own, what we have done, or what we feel inside.  It’s time to look at ourselves from the perspetive of the eternal Creator - God Himself and Christ definitely showed that to us. 

 

You and I can be that Samaritan woman who just needs to have that special encounter with Christ Himself. 

 

Email me: leeyaj@atenista.net