Wednesday

True Worship


John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.

How can we worship without a temple? The key to finding this answer is found in the verses above. Prospective worshipers must first know who it is they intend to worship. When this knowledge is gained then they will know how to worship. Worship is not primarily a musical rhythm, procedure, or place. It is an event between spiritual persons. One is worthy to be worshiped and the other is qualified to worship.

For many people worship is about what happens in their surroundings, but true worship takes place in a person’s spirit. What is the spirit? Perhaps this question will help answer that question: What is a spirit without personality and intellect? The answer is: nothing. A spirit is pure rational personal existence.

The theologian James Boyce defined spirit as the “higher nature of man.“ He said, “It is evident, that the higher nature of man, so far from being a part of his animal life, either accompanies it or takes its place, and dwells in the body, using it as a means of contact with the external world, in which man, as a spiritual being, is thus enabled to live, and exercise the faculties of his higher nature.”

We worship God with our intellect first. A person who doesn’t know God based on His revelation of Himself cannot then truly worship God... no matter how good the music. So the most important instrument of true worship is the mind. That mind must know and comprehend revealed truth about God, for only then is real worship possible. This is worshiping Him “in spirit and in truth.”

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