By Not Known
Some people say that we are stuck with the religion into which we were born and cannot change.
The Bible tell us otherwise. it gives us many stories of people who left the faith of their families and started believing in Jesus. As we read these stories, they help us to see that we too can change our religion and become Christians.
One of these stories is found inJohn 4. There we read of a lady who was raised in the religious beliefs of the Samaritans, which were rather like a splinter movement of the old Hebrew faith. This lady was proud of her ancestors and the sacred places in her country. She also had a colourful past, with five husbands and a present de facto relationship.
And then she met Jesus. He came to her district and asked for a drink of water. Little by little the conversation progressed around the theme of water until finally she caught a glimpse of just who Jesus was. So off she went and told her townsmen, asking if this Jesus could be the one promised form God (the Messiah). As result many others also came to faith in Jesus and left the religion of their family to trust Jesus.
I wonder how here family reacted? We can expect that some would have been indifferent, others were curious and others were hostile. Perhaps she paid a very high price to believe in Jesus, just as some in our congregation have. But, once she came to see who Jesus is, there really was no choice but to follow her heart and head.
How about you? Perhaps you have already made the change from your family’s religion to believe in Jesus. (‘Well done’ if you have – but are you now copying this woman and going back to tell your family about Jesus?) Or perhaps, you are holding back, fearful of the price to pay if you change your religion and become a Christian.
It can be costly to follow Jesus and it may mean a painful rejection by your family, such that the only family you now have is the family of God’s people. But the choice is not heard to take once you have met Jesus, for through him alone we have a connection to God, to the harmony of all things and to life itself. He is indeed the ‘living water’ who satisfies our deepest thirst.