Jesus says in John 4:24 to worship God “in spirit and in truth.” In spirit would seem to mean that we are to worship with our total self, especially the inner man, with love and sincerity. In truth evidently would be according as God, in His word, directs. His word is truth - John 17:17.
Many times, however, people worship, not in spirit but because of pressure or a feeling of obligation. And instead of worship in truth, it is done out of tradition. Jesus said in Matthew 15:9 that our worship is in vain if we are worshipping after the traditions of men. Also, Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 that if what we do is not from love, it is worthless.
There are other considerations, though. For example, a person may be very sincere in what he does and he may love God a great deal and yet not worship in truth. That is, he may be following the traditions and commands of men instead of God. In this case, his worship is in vain. God has always given the specific ways and means of worshipping Him and man has no right to change it. Therefore, we must find scriptural basis for all we do in order to know it is “in truth.”
Some may worship in truth - engage in those acts of worship as described by the Bible - and yet not worship in spirit. This is just as dangerous. In John 14:15, Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Worship is an obligation, but unless our worship is “in spirit” it does no good.
We must concentrate on what we do. I encourage you to not let your worship be out of a feeling of obligation or because of tradition. Search your soul that you may worship in spirit and search the scriptures that you may worship in truth. “…for the Father seeks such to worship Him.” - John 4:23
See you when the saints meet, Lord willing.
Love, Tony
Weekly words of encouragement, devotional thoughts or calls to action from God's word by Tony Lalli. These posts can also be found in print weekly in the Dewey Church of Christ bulletin.
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