Mensa Otabil - The Saviour of the World
- Watch
- Donate
John 41 to 42. And many more believed because of His own word. Then they said to the woman, «Now we believe not because of what you said, for we ourselves have heard Him, and we know that this is indeed the Christ, the Savior of the world.»
What a great conclusion to a remarkable story-from the woman looking for water to finding the living water, Jesus Christ — and not only finding Christ for herself, but introducing Christ to her town, leading her town to a personal conviction that Jesus is indeed the Christ. That is what our Christian testimony is supposed to be: that we encounter God and introduce people to God, and they find Him for themselves. Many of us were introduced to Christianity by our parents. They took us to church, taught us to read the Bible, and taught us to pray.
Over time, our faith or our Christian belief centered around our parents and what they had introduced to us. Eventually, we called ourselves Christians, believing we were Christians, but we had a relationship with God that was courtesy of our parents. We hadn’t come into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We are like the people of this woman’s town. They heard her testimony and believed, but they had to encounter Jesus Christ for themselves. Because if you don’t encounter Jesus for yourself and know Him as your own Lord, then when adversity strikes, and when trials and difficulties come, you will abandon the faith of your fathers, because the faith of your fathers is not your faith.
Some of us became Christians because of our church or because of a pastor, but we haven’t known Christ for ourselves. Christianity cannot be lived through others. It’s each individual knowing God for himself or herself. It’s each individual having Christ in their heart and serving Him. Because until you have that personal relationship with Jesus Christ, when you are faced with adversity, your faith will be wobbly. And you must know Him for yourself. You must consciously receive Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior.
So if you call yourself a Christian but have not personally received Christ as your Lord, you need to. And if you’re just a church member but have never received Christ as your Lord and Savior, you need to. The people of this woman’s village said, «At first we believed because you said it, but now we believe because we have met Him ourselves.» That is where God wants us to be. And I pray that you will know the Lord for yourself. You’ll grow in Him. You’ll grow in His word. You’ll grow in His Spirit as you worship Him in spirit and in truth.
Let us pray. Say with me, «Heavenly Father, I have decided to follow Jesus. Help me live as your child all the days of my life, in Jesus' name. Amen. And amen.