This is an excerpt from the book Called to Worship--The Biblical Foundations of Our Response to God's Call by Vernon M. Whaley.
IT WAS ABOUT NOON, AND HE SAT DOWN BY A WELL, TO REST.
Enter, a Samaritan woman. Jesus asked for water. He was seeking. The woman was seeking too.
Jesus knew her: her history, suspicions, questions, fears. He also knew her needs--and how to meet them. A life of failure, of disappointment--perhaps even abuse--had left her hard, bitter--and very thirsty.
Jesus could quench her thirst. And he told her so.
But the woman was incredulous. She had already tried drinking from the wells of tradition, failed relationships, religion, and sexual promiscuity. Sadly, she'd discovered that water from those sources did not satisfy. Yet this man--what was His name?--was presenting a different type of water, and with it, hope.
What was that He had said? "You'll never thirst again"? Jesus was offering something more, something eternal--that would fulfill this woman's deepest yearnings and heal the hurts in her heart. He was offering a relationship with God--through worship.
The Samaritan woman's perception of God--her "theology"--was a half-breed mix of Hebrew doctrine and the pantheism of the cultures around her. "You Samaritans worship something you do not understand," Jesus told her (John 4:22 NCV). But desperate to bring her to understanding, He said, "[My] Father...is actively seeking...people to worship him" (v. 24 NCV, emphasis added).
The Father was seeking her.
GOD IS SEEKING WORSHIPPERS!
As I sat outside of my cabin at Camp NaCoMe, Bible in hand, I breathed in the smell of frying bacon and gazed toward the eastern horizon. A picturesque sunrise flaunted stunning reds, oranges, and ambers. Wow, I thought. God has really outdone Himself.
Opening by Bible, I glanced down at John 4--and saw it for the first time: "The Father is actively seeking..."
Hmm...
I knew God loved me. He had forgiven me, saved me, healed me, and called me into ministry. But seeking me?
Suddenly, I "got it." This was one of those "aha" moments you hear about. God is in pursuit, I thought. Of ME!
I know what you're thinking. "Do you mean to tell me that God is actually pursuing me as a worshipper?"
Yes. Actively.
The Bible tells us that "the eyes of the Lord are always upon [us]" (Deut. 11:12 KJV), and as He watches, His spirit is ever at work, moving, convicting, suggesting, calling. And today, God is calling men and women, boys and girls, from every race and culture. He's calling the professional and the laborer. He's calling me--and He's calling you--to worship Him.