John
4:24 “God is a Spirit; and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and
in truth.”
Famous
story about Jesus met with the Samaritan woman at the well and how she
discovered that Jesus is the Messiah. Now I would like to focus on the
question: Why did Jesus explained about “true worshippers shall worship the
Father in spirit and in truth?” And what did Jesus meant “God is a Spirit … worship
Him in spirit and in truth?”
But
first, let us check: Why did the Samaritan woman asked Jesus exactly where we should
worship God, “in this mountain (Samaria); or in Jerusalem? Jesus answered in verse 21 that time will come
that it won’t matter where you worship the Father. And Jesus gave instruction on how to worship
the Father correctly: in spirit and in truth.
Jesus
teaches several things in this verse: (Some from
commentary and some I translate or add)
(1) “In spirit” points to the level at which
true worship happens. When you come to God, our atmosphere changes to a deep respect
inside of our inner spirit. It is when
our inner spirit becomes connected to the Spirit of God. You can feel Him in the spirit. That’s when Holy Spirit comes in. God is a Spirit.
Holy Spirit is a Spirit. We communicate with Him in our inner spirit.
(2) “In truth” is God’s character that He
never lies and that we can trust God.
God seeks the kind of worshippers whose heart is sincere and honest before
Him. God requires speaking the truth
when we worship Him. Our heart is the
center of our worship to Him.
Also,
Jesus emphasis to the Samaritan woman about what to worship God. He said, “You Samaritans worship something you
don’t understand. We understand what we worship,
because salvation comes from the Jews” (John 4:22, NCV). So Jesus shows how important is to know what
we are worshiping about.
Worship
is a very broad subject. I just found the articles about “Worship” and it explain
that the English word “worship” came from an old English word “worthship”; in
other words, worship has those actions and attitudes that show respect and
honor the worthiness of great God of heaven and earth. So worship is God
centered, not man centered. In Christian
worship we draw near to God in gratitude for what He has done for us in Christ
and through the Holy Spirit. It requires
a faith commitment to Him and an acknowledgement that He is our God and Lord. (Some from commentary).
What
does our heavenly Father seeks? John 4:23 tells us “the true worshippers shall
worship the Father in spirit and in truth: this is the kind of worship our
heavenly Father seek or look for. A
heart that honor God inside of us and with an honest heart that loves to
worship Him. Worshiping the Father in songs would come naturally in our heart
to sing to Him which the Holy Spirit would lead us that He knows would pleases
our Heavenly Father.
Song: Deeper, Deeper
Deeper,
deeper in the love Jesus,
Daily
let me go;
Higher,
higher in the school of wisdom,
More
of grace to know.
Chorus:
Oh
deep—er yet I pray,
And
high—er every day,
And
wis—er, blessed Lord,
In
Thy precious, holy Word.
2.
Deeper, deeper! Blessed Holy Spirit,
Take
me deeper still,
Till
my life is wholly lost in Jesus
And
His perfect will.
(Then
Chorus)
(Charles
P. Jones, Sing His Praise)
God
bless you!
Dorothy
PS.
Perhaps, there might be further studies on “Worship” on how they worship God in
the Old Testament times.
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