Jesus brings a cultural revolution

But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers. John 4:23

The woman at the well becomes concerned because she has been taught throughout the years that the only place that God is present on earth is in the Temple in Jerusalem. But as a Samaritan, she is not allowed in the Temple or anywhere near it, which would seem to keep her from worshipping God. So this cultural division about worship between Jews and the Samaritans is something Jesus is trying to address.

Unbelievers often mistakenly think that if they go through the proper externals of “worship,” then things are fine between them and God. As long as they go inside a church building, say their prayers, sing a song or two and say amen to the sermon every now and then, they figure that everything is okay. But they really haven’t talked to God about their heart. They haven’t repented of their sins of thought, word, and deed. So Jesus tells her that it’s not the externals that matter as much as the internal. We must make it our priority to become true worshipers of God in spirit and truth.

However, too many times we interrupt our schedules once a week, rush into church, give God “His hour,” and then forget about Him and get back to what we’d rather be doing. Yet something of great importance is missed when we do just that. Worship cannot be done in just one hour a week. We can’t properly worship God on Sundays if we’re not worshiping Him throughout the week.