Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe me, the hour is coming when neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship the Father. You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
In this passage, we see Jesus talking with a Samaritan woman at the well. She begins a discussion with Jesus about the proper place to worship. Jesus turns the conversation to a talk about Himself. The woman wants to debate where worship should take place. Jesus answers her by saying that there will be a time when worship will not take place on any mountain. He says that a new type of worship is coming and in fact has come. Worshipers who worship in spirit and in truth will characterize this new worship. He says that God is seeking a particular type of worshiper, one who will worship in spirit and in truth. This is far more important to God than any instruments or style of music or color of the carpet!
In this conversation, we see that Jesus is not as concerned with the “nonessential” parts of worship that man is concerned with. He looks beyond the place of worship and looks to the heart of the worshiper. God is looking for those who will worship Him in the way that He desires and commands to be worshiped. That type of worship is worship in spirit and truth. Both of these are essential in true worship. A heavy reliance on the spirit and on emotions with out relying on the truth can cause worship to become unbiblical. A heavy reliance on truth without relying on the spirit can cause worship to be a matter of the mind and not of the heart. The worship that God desires is genuine worship from the heart that is a response to the truth of who He is and what He has done for us. What an amazing thought that the God of this universe is seeking us to worship Him. He is not satisfied with the millions of angels who worship Him, He wants you and I to worship Him. There is something in our worship that the angels do not have. We are able to respond to the salvation we have in Christ, we can worship Him because of this salvation. The angels are not able to do that. We, who have been saved by His grace, bought by His blood, and made His children, can worship Him like no one else can. God is seeking for us to worship Him from our hearts and in truth.
- Is your worship of God, true worship from the heart?
- When you think about worship, are you more concerned with the place, the style, the volume,and the method of worship than with worshiping Him with all of your heart?
- Is your worship a response to the truth of who God is and what God has done in your life?
Today, remind yourself that God is seeking real worshipers. Be sure that the methods of worship don’t distract you and cause you to lose focus of who you are worshiping.
A Pastor's Thoughts 