“Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The Samaritan woman who was drawing water from Jacob’s well was captivated by Jesus’ words. This woman tried to survive desperate circumstances, but neither water from the well nor her trust in the Law of Moses could quench her thirst. Jesus knew even about people’s miniscule family circumstances, so she confidently believed that Jesus was a prophet. She asked Him, “Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you say that the place where people must worship is in Jerusalem.”

The people of Samaria worshiped God on Mount Gerizim and did not recognize other books in the Bible except the five books of Moses. For sure, the Jews embraced the books of Moses and the prophets as God’s revelation, and they believed Jerusalem was where God should be worshiped. From their viewpoint, the Samaritans were filthier than the gentiles. They claimed to believe God, but they rejected God’s revelation and put limits on God’s word to suit their tastes. The Jews disdained the Samaritans, yet not even the Jews worshiped God in the way God wanted. This was because they assumed an outward appearance, but their hearts were far from God.

Jesus said, “Woman, believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.” This is true. We can now worship God through Jesus Christ with a sincere heart while we follow the truth revealed by God; our spirits no longer need to despair of unquenchable thirst.

Jesus came to call those who are in despair. Consequently, there are many believers in Jesus who have despaired of the world. For sure, their final hope is to enter heaven – but for those who cannot survive in the world by their own strength – the church is where they can receive God’s help to overcome the world. Therefore, the church should not be a place where each person tries to become superior to others and display it. People who know their weaknesses want to overcome the world with God’s help, and the church should be a place to welcome their struggles.

To achieve this, a sincere heart is more important than anything. This should be the basic character for all believers who make up the church. In the outer world, appearance is often considered more important than the heart, so sincerity is disregarded. But believers should not be swept away by these worldly tendencies. Additionally, they should not put limits on God’s word by their ideas or be satisfied solely by possessing spiritual knowledge. Their lives should be guided by the truth. If all believers act like this, there will be no place for cunning desires and attitudes to stay, and those who drink the Lord’s living water will overcome despair and they will rise.