ONE.1

 

 

 

 

There is power in numbers. Often we think that the more the better.  In the coming weeks I want to encourage you to know the power of 1. I pray that we will gain a focus. Sometimes we lose our focus because we have so many things that are trying to gain our attention. We need to have one focus.

Hebrews 12:2 Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith.

There are so many distractions in this world – so many things that compete for our attention. I think that many times we might suffer from spiritual ADHD. So I pray that God will give us a dose of spiritual Ritalin. I don’t mean to make light of anyone who is dealing with ADHD or a child of theirs is for that matter. I had a thought . I heard that Ritalin hyped adults up while calming children down. Shouldn’t doctors prescribe this to both the adult and the child so that they can meet somewhere in the middle?

Whoops- I’m wandering. See what I mean?

In our day we have so many good things that can distract us from what’s important. So I pray that we will gain focus and that we can gain a singleness of heart in our walk with God. This singleness of heart will build our passion for God and our purpose in this world.

I love this verse that tells of God’s perspective on those who have a single hearted devotion to God.

2 Chronicles 16:9 For the eyes of the Lord move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. NASB

I love this pursuing of God  – this God that chases after the one.

Luke 15:4-7 ⁴ Suppose one of you has a hundred sheep and loses one of them. Does he not leave the ninety-nine in the open country and go after the lost sheep until he finds it? ⁵ And when he finds it, he joyfully puts it on his shoulders ⁶ and goes home. Then he calls his friends and neighbors together and says, ‘Rejoice with me; I have found my lost sheep.’ ⁷ I tell you that in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who do not need to repent.

John 4:4  Now he had to go through Samaria.

In John 4 we find Jesus going after 1.  In verse 4 we find that Jesus “had” to go through Samaria.  What compelled Jesus?  When most would avoid the region all together, Jesus was compelled by His love to go through Samaria.  Why – because there was one whom he was to meet at the local well.

John 4:7  When a Samaritan woman came to draw water, Jesus said to her, “Will you give me a drink?”

It is the middle of the day, the disciples are off to buy food and Jesus takes a seat by the well.  A Samaritan woman comes to the well.  Jesus asks her one simple question- “Will you give me a drink?” And the woman responds with a rather harsh response. She points out that He is a Jew and she is a Samaritan, and the two are not sociable with each other. In other words, “Buzz off!”

John 4:13-14 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.

But Jesus persists – he says He has water that will quench the thirst for eternity. Imagine that one drink and your life will never be the same. Your thirst will be taken care of. In response this woman opens up just a little. She says, ‘Sir, give me a drink so that I will never have to come here again to draw water.’

You see it is already strange that this woman is here at the well alone in the middle of the heat of the day. Typical to that time women would draw water from the well in the cool of the morning or later in the day, but not in the heat of the day. And it was uncommon for them to go alone. Rather the well was a social place. This woman seems to have made a concerted effort to come when the crowd was not there. Why? Well Jesus is going to get to that point. He asks her to go get her husband to which she replies truthfully. I have no husband. But what she didn’t reveal but Jesus knew was that she had had five husbands and the man she was now living with was not her husband.

Are you getting the picture here? This woman was alone. We don’t know the details of all but we know that she had five relationships that had failed. It seems that she has been shunned by her community. Or maybe she was avoiding them on her own. But she still had to get her thirst quenched. She still had to go to that well every day. For her the water jug had become a constant reminder of her failed relationships. It was a sign symbol of the rejection she felt.

Let’s talk about relational shutdown…

There was a time in my life when I felt so much rejection that I just wanted to be left alone. Try as I might I could not break through. People and relationships had failed me. And you know what the truth is it affected my relationship with God. I am so glad that in the middle of those times, Jesus feels compelled to find the one who is all alone. And what is his call? Come and worship!

Look at what happens in the encounter at the well. Here the woman tries to change the subject. You see Jesus got too close. So she brings up a religious argument. She says you Jews say we should worship in Jerusalem but we believe we can worship here.

John 4:23 Yet A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.   NIV

Look at what happens in the encounter at the well.  Here the woman tries to change the subject. You see Jesus got too close. So she brings up a religious argument. She says you Jews say we should worship in Jerusalem but we believe we can worship here. Jesus brings her to the heart of the matter.  He says worshipping God is the single most important matter. 

Worship is much more than an activity. It is much more than music or devotion. Worship is an embrace. God calls us to come into a loving encounter where he accepts us, forgives us, and heals us. Worship is the ONE THING.

Worship is where we take on the passion of God, and passion for God overwhelms us. Worship is this grand pursuit that gives our life purpose and meaning. Worship is not a service, but worship is the essence of our encountering God. And when we engage in this one thing, we are changed.

Notice what happens. This woman runs away and leaves her jug (vs. 28) and she goes to find people to tell them about the one who loves her and gives living water. She leaves the reminder of hurt and rejection and she goes and loves people. She engages again with people. This is the result when we are truly healed and changed in our relationship with God. We become a lover of people.

Today you may be like this woman. You may have shut down and shut out people and in the process shut out God. Today the Master comes to call you to one thing. He calls you to himself to be loved and to love.