Good Morning Friends and Family. The longer I live the more convinced I become that the purpose of life is to worship God. In the final temptation Jesus refers to Deuteronomy 6:13 when He says, Worship the Lord your God, and serve Him only. But what does it mean to worship? Does that mean going to church? Or is it just a particular part of going to church like singing songs or shouting halleluiah? Well these can be worship... or not. Worship does not depend so much on what we are doing as upon our spirit, our heart attitude. In John 4 Jesus engages a Samaritan woman in a conversation at a well. Put into context of the day this is a highly unusual conversation. A Jew generally would not associate with a Samaritan. Additionally a Jewish man definitely would not be talking with a Samaritan woman. And finally there is no way an orthodox Jew would be engaged in such a personal and intimate conversation with a woman who had a reputation! But Jesus has a vital message for this woman and for all who will hear and it is found in verses 23 & 24. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth. Now I didnt have a clue what worshiping in spirit meant for many years as I was growing up. Oh I went to church and I listened to the bible being read and preached on. I even saw people performing selfless acts for others but somehow I didnt get worship in spirit and in truth. My church attendance was either due to a sense of duty or familiarity. Thankfully God can take our acts of duty and bring us to a place where we meet Him and are transformed. This happened to me when I was 23 in a little Episcopal church camp in the middle of the Louisiana piney woods. I went from being a fairly regular church attender and youth group leader to being a worshiper in spirit and truth. I recognized that my being in charge of my life was not working out all that great. I had made decisions and taken actions I knew were not right. I saw that God, who made me and loved me, was offering me a new life. I simply made a decision to chose His way, to accept His Lordship of my life and my life radically changed for the good. The biggest change was that I wanted to know God more and more. The bible suddenly exploded with vibrancy and life. I couldnt read it enough. And my conversations with others became times to talk about the goodness and awesomeness of God. I must admit I may have been a little overwhelming. But the reality of the absolute truth of the Word of God and the power of Gods spirit, Who He gives to a person when they put their trust in Him were in fact, overwhelming me. While I was very rough around the edges (and perhaps I still am) and sometimes I lacked tact and sensitivity, I was now worshiping like Jesus described - in spirit and in truth. Time is running out for me this morning, but I want to get to the punch line. Worship means to declare God worthy above all else. All we do, when it emanates from a life committed to God and seeking to please Him, is worship. Worship happens at work, in the grocery store, in the car with the worship music playing and we are singing at the top of our voice (thankfully the bible says to make a joyful NOISE, not that we must sing beautifully), or at the quiet bedside of a dying friend. Worship is a heart turned toward God doing what God has placed before us to do. Worship is meant to be with our whole heart and all of our life. Such is the Fathers desire for us. He does not expect us to do this on our own though. He Himself will bring this to pass as we simply offer ourselves up to Him. See Romans 12:1-2. Have a most blessed day today and share Gods love with someone who needs it.
Posted on: Tue, 11 Mar 2014 09:37:12 +0000
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