What are you hiding? In His Word 11-15-21
Today in a discussion with one of my kids I thought about how
many people hide things this time of year and do not tell others about things because
they want to surprise them. It brought our conversation to those who have what
they call hidden sins.
The woman left her water jar beside the well and ran back to
the village, telling everyone, “Come and
see a man who told me everything I ever did! Could he possibly be the Messiah?”
So, the people came streaming from the
village to see him. John 4:28-30
No matter how much the woman at the well, or the Samaritan
Woman tried, she could not hide from God the truth about her life. Jesus talked to her or a while at the well as
his disciples were out looking for food.
He shared things with her that made her run off to tell the people and
because of that many came to see Him and were saved. I call her the first Woman
Evangelist, though there were other women in the Old Testament who lead by example
she was a non-Hebrew woman and she shared about Christ!
He had to go through
Samaria on the way. Eventually he came
to the Samaritan village of Sychar, near the field that Jacob gave to his son
Joseph. Jacob’s well was there; and Jesus, tired from the long walk, sat
wearily beside the well about noontime. Soon a Samaritan woman came to draw
water, and Jesus said to her, “Please give me a drink.” He was alone at the
time because his disciples had gone into the village to buy some food. John
4:4-8
He surprised her. First that He being a Jew spoke to her,
second that He asked for her to do him a favor to get a drink of water from the
well. Thirdly, He told her all she had
done, all she had figured she had hidden from all people. She was amazed at
this. She figured, as many people who come to Christ do, that she did a good
job of pretending be a good person with each of her husbands. She was certain that
no one knew all the things that she had done. When He spoke to her, surely her
heart felt along with her ears hearing that He was the Messiah she had heard
about all her life.
If we claim we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves
and not living in the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful
and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. If we claim we have not sinned, we are calling
God a liar and showing that his word has no place in our hearts. 1 John 1:8-10
So many people hide, or try to hide, that they are still
sinning. Many just try to ignore it because they think its not that important,
and some just think they ‘took care of it’. I believe that if we have not
confessed our sins to God that we are not yet forgiven of them. This is why
from time-to-time things come up in our thoughts of things we did in the past.
Then we have the chance to be free from that former sin. If it keeps coming up,
God has a reason.
The Samaritan woman kept trying to start over with a clean
slate but she did not confess it. Christ gave her the chance to be free from
those hindrances from her past and to go forward in the knowledge of Him.
We each have that same gift! We are given the chance to accept
that forgiveness and to be free in Christ. In this we can know that all our chains
are broken from our family history and our own when we accept that He is the
Messiah and our Lord and Savior. Jesus took it all from us but we really should
acknowledge it so that we can battle against the wiles of the devil, our adversary
and the ‘enemy’ we all fight against. When we truly give it up to Jesus we can
walk in faith and victory knowing that all things are obvious to Him, and that
He has forgiven us for it.
The real reason we confess it is to fess up and accept His
forgiveness and freedom today.
Let’s make it a pack to let go of even the past hate or hurt
that we may have caused and allow Christ in to heal us and to forgive us
completely. Fess up! Jesus already knows! Be honest with Him, speak the truth
with Him because that is our ultimate act of worship is living honest with
Christ. The Word tells us that those who worship Him will worship in Spirit and
in Truth.
Just a few thoughts to ponder today… in Jesus’ name.
The woman was
surprised, for Jews refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans.[b] She said
to Jesus, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. Why are you asking me for
a drink?” Jesus replied, “If you only knew the gift God has for you and who you
are speaking to, you would ask me, and I would give you living water.” “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? 12 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?”
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.”
“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!”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you must be a prophet. So tell me,
why is it that you Jews insist that Jerusalem is the only place of worship,
while we Samaritans claim it is here at Mount Gerizim, where our ancestors
worshiped?”
Jesus replied,
“Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter
whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. You Samaritans know very little about the one
you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the
Jews. But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will
worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who
will worship him that way. For God is
Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:10-24