Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If any of you wants to be my follower, you
must turn from your selfish ways, take up your cross, and follow me. If you try to hang on to
your life, you will lose it. But if you give up your life for my sake, you will
save it. -- Matthew 16: 24-25 (NLT)
Which life are we hanging onto today? To be
a follower of Jesus Christ, that is a Christian, we are supposed to turn from
our selfish ways -- which means it is no longer all about us but only about Him.
We are supposed to take up our cross. That is a message you will not hear
preached too often these days. We tend to not want to hear about carrying a
cross. We would much rather hear about what God can do for us. About how much
He wants to bless us. About how much money He wants us to have. Money and
material blessings value the wrong life. The Bible says to store up treasures
in heaven, not on this earth, which we see with each passing natural disaster
is dying. Do we really grasp the gift God has given us? That our names are now
written in the Lambs Book of Life? That our sins which were many have now been
forgiven? That we have overcome death itself through our Lord Jesus Christ? We
must grasp this gift tighter because the world we are supposed to be witnessing
too certainly does not understand it. This woman at the well certainly did not
understand it when the Gift Himself was standing right in front of her!
"But sir, you don't have a rope or a bucket," she
said, "and this well is very deep. Where would you get this living water? And
besides, do you think you're greater than our ancestor Jacob, who gave us this
well? How can you offer better water than he and his sons and his animals
enjoyed?" -- John 4: 11-12 (NLT)
As people we are so full of
excuses. Lesson number three. Reasons and rationales filled with the wisdom of
the world and carnality. The unsaved use these excuses to dismiss the existence
of God. Man has sworn to them that science is cold hard facts and that religion
is dogmatic fairy tales written by men. They cannot see that all they are doing
is elevating man to the level of their god. They do not see the enormous amount
of faith required to believe in most scientific theory. That from rock life
grew for no apparent reason. That our great grandfather was a monkey. That all
the beauty and splendor of God's creation, screaming at them every day, are
merely random events. Any wild-eyed theory they can come up with to simply deny
the existence of God. How can this be? Because they are being lied to by the
father of lies, Satan:
If
the Good News we preach is hidden behind a veil, it is hidden only from people
who are perishing. Satan, who is the god of this world, has blinded the minds
of those who don't believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good
News. They don't understand this message about the glory of Christ, who is the
exact likeness of God. -- 2Corinthians 4: 3-4 (NLT)
Yet when we look at the excuses offered up by the woman at the well we need to remember that she was a believer. Samaritans worshipped differently but they believed in the same God as the Jews. The cold hard reality we need to learn today is that we continue to make excuses even once we are saved. Excuses why we cannot go deeper in Christ. Excuses for why our prayer life is stagnant or we cannot find time to read the Bible. Excuses why we cannot be healed. Excuses why we cannot follow the call God has put on our life. To serve in ministry, to teach, to bring the Word of God. Excuses why we won't witness to people. Quite often we are that woman at the well. God says to go out on faith and we ask Him where His bucket and rope is. He says to go out into all the world and we try to tell Him how deep the well is. He says to trust Him and we question whether what He is offering is better than what we might already have. Meanwhile, back at Jacob's well...
Jesus
replied, "Anyone
who drinks this water will soon become thirsty again. But those who drink the
water I give will never be thirsty again. It becomes a fresh, bubbling spring
within them, giving them eternal life."
"Please, sir," the woman said, "give me this water! Then I'll never
be thirsty again, and I won't have to come here to get water." -- John 4: 13-15
(NLT)
There is a difference between the spirit realm and the natural. Lesson number four. Jesus shares that He is offering eternal life! Yet what does the woman focus on? Carnal needs. She doesn't want to be thirsty again and doesn't want to have to draw from the well ever again. Likewise we too can become so enamored with our physical needs over the spiritual. We too can consider our comfort (not having to draw water again) over the eternal promises we are supposed to be walking in. The Bible says that we are supposed to be more than conquerors and over-comers through Christ. That no weapon formed against us should prosper. That we have victory in whom we have believed. Yet how many Christians do we see without the victory? The Bible says to put on the whole armor of God for a reason:
For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against
evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this
dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Therefore, put on
every piece of God's armor so you will be able to resist the enemy in the time
of evil. Then after the battle you will still be standing firm. -- Ephesians 6: 12-13 (NLT)
Are we standing firm today in Jesus? Or are there areas of
our life where we still are like this woman at the well? Unable to
differentiate between what is Spiritual and what is carnal? There are entire
churches like that today. Turning a blind eye or a blind pulpit to the mighty
powers in this dark world and evil spirits in heavenly places does not stop
them from wreaking havoc in the lives of believers. We have all seen and know
Christians who lead absolutely bound lives. Free in Christ but shackled to one
stronghold or another. The Bible says that we have the mind of Christ but too
often we still reflect back to the worldly logic we grew up with. The world wants
to teach you how to cope with problems while Jesus wants you to be delivered
from them! We have to stop skipping over the eternal life Jesus is talking to
us about just to focus on creature comforts in this world like not having to
draw water again. At this well in
"Go and get your husband," Jesus told her. "I don't
have a husband," the woman replied. Jesus said, "You're right! You don't have a husband-- for you have had five
husbands, and you aren't even married to the man you're living with now. You
certainly spoke the truth!" -- John 4: 16-18 (NLT)
