Woke Beliefs Will Keep You From Jesus

The woman said to him, “Sir, I perceive that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you say that in Jerusalem is the place where people ought to worship.”— John 4:19-20

So to begin. I love how this woman slowly but progressively realizes who Jesus is. Read through the entire dialogue on your own. At first, she only recognizes his race, religion, and gender. Toward the middle of the interaction, she realizes he is more than this; he is a prophet. And at the end, she discovers he is the Messiah.

But right here, she doesn't fully get it. The obstacle right now is her woke religious beliefs. These beliefs were born after centuries of religious adaptations to the Jewish faith after Babylonian captivity. Samaritans had adjusted their worship of God to suit their present needs and thus created their systems, rules, and place of worship. One of the things Samaritans had adjusted were the religious laws on marriage and divorce. They allowed intermarriage with people of other faiths and permitted divorce. Yet this was a deviation from the Law of Moses. They had adjusted the Law to suit their needs, and this woman had either intentionally or unintentionally accepted these woke beliefs.

We face the same dangers in our time. Woke religious beliefs are making their way into the church, and some religious leaders insist on adjusting the truth to suit cultural norms. That's always what woke religious leaders do. They will lead you right away from God's truth toward their truth. They will even tell you it's more loving. But it's not. The most loving thing to do is to tell them the truth even when it hurts, just like Jesus did. (Go back to yesterday's devotional) Woke religious beliefs do not lead you to love. They lead you into sin. That's what has happened to this woman. Her religious beliefs had led her down a long road of sin: perpetual sin and emptiness. And Jesus has come to lead her back.

So we learn that in the process of people discovering Jesus, we will have to address those wounds, but we will also have to address their misunderstanding about God, worship, religion, and faith. And this might cause some initial confusion. It might even mean telling people what is wrong with their beliefs so that they will see what is right. Just think back over your journey with Jesus. There were probably many things you had wrong early in your walk. False beliefs that needed to be addressed. And these woke beliefs must be corrected so that you will wake up to the truth about God. The God that is standing right in front of you who wants you to love him and his truth.

ASK THIS: What is one wrong belief you have or have had about God?

DO THIS: Believe only the truth and let God love you.

PRAY THIS: Jesus, reveal my woke beliefs so I will see the truth.

PLAY THIS: The Truth.