John 4:23-24 and John 6:26-27 (NIV)
John 4: 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 6:26 Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, you are looking for me, not because you saw the signs I performed but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. 27 Do not work for food that spoils, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on him God the Father has placed his seal of approval.”
When we come to worship, we usually come in a decent manner including our fine clothings. We always tried to present to GOD ourselves as holy people of GOD. There’s no wrong about it. It is actually good and helpful to others to do the same kind to show our reverence to GOD and to the place of worship. Also, we come to GOD confident because of our good deeds. We offer it to the LORD. And when we offer prayers, we mention to GOD what we have accomplished in serving HIM in order for HIM to hear our petitions. But Psalms 51:17 says , “My sacrifice, O God, is a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart you, God, will not despise.” And if we come to GOD, we come to GOD because of what grace and favor we can get from HIM and not because of HIM, the Giver of grace or the Giver of Favor. So, how do we worship GOD aside from loving HIM?
We know that we have to love and worship GOD. But loving and worshipping GOD are not the same things. We can LOVE GOD THROUGH loving others especially those people who are unlovable. I John 4:20 says, “Whoever claims to love God, yet hates a brother or sister, is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.” God loved them while they were sinning, that is why Jesus also instructed His disciples and all of us to do the same: to love our enemies and do good to those who hate us. (Luke 6:27) I John 5:3 also says, “In fact, this is love for God: to keep His commands…” Therefore, GOD’s command is to love Him through loving people regardless of who they are but not what they do.
On the other hand, while loving GOD is through loving people, worshipping GOD cannot be done THROUGH worshipping people. The word ‘worship’ means to exalt, to glorify, or to adore. True worship is the art of losing oneself to the highest adoration or exaltation of only one and no one else but GOD. It is reserved for GOD alone. Luke 4:8 says, “Worship the Lord your GOD and serve Him only.” That’s why it is between you and God through the Spirit.
While loving the Lord our GOD requires our heart, our soul, and our mind, in our doing (Matthew 22:37), worshipping the Lord our GOD requires surrendering our soul, mind, our doing to His control. Therefore it is more than loving and praising GOD. Praising is just a part of our worship and also an expression of our love for GOD. Because praising is not about GOD alone, but about what GOD have done for us. Reality is that we praise GOD more for the same reason, HE had answered our prayers. Therefore it is more about our problems solved, but not about HIM.
Here is why worshipping GOD is different. We worship GOD when we exalt Him as HE is. When we come to GOD to pray, it is because we need Him to answer our prayers and make impossible things possible. The reason we come to Him is about us, about our problems, and not about Him. We come to Him to ‘fill the loaves’. When we worship, it is submitting to His will and not about our will. To submit to his will is to know first what His will is. And to know His will can only be revealed by the Holy Spirit.
John 4:24 says, “God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” It is through the Holy Spirit that we can worship Him as HE is. Love is not enough, we have to know what GOD’s purpose is and what HE has prepared for those who love Him and wants to worship Him.
1 Corinthians 2:9-14 says, “However, as it is written: “What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, what no human mind has conceived”—the things God has prepared for those who love Him. These are the things God has revealed to us by His Spirit. The Spirit searches all things, even the deep things of God. For who knows a person’s thoughts except their own spirit within them? In the same way, no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God. What we have received is not the spirit of the world, but the Spirit who is from God, so that we may understand what God has freely given us. This is what we speak, not in words taught by the Spirit, explaining spiritual realities with Spirit-taught words. The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit.”
Worshipping is not us talking, it is the time of our listening. Worshipping is surrendering, so it is GOD who is talking, it is our time to listen. And when HE talks, He displays His glory. Remember the burning bush as HE introduced Himself to Moses? (Exodus 3:1-6) We can see it with awe, and exalting Him comes from us with an indescribable moment, it would come far beyond with a memorized song practiced with instruments. It would be spontaneous praising and rejoicing because it will be carried with the Spirit of GOD through your senses and beyond your imagination. At this point, the Spirit leads us to worship through seeing the beautiful things He made that we are seeing before, but now with meaning.
Let us experience GOD, His Magnificence, His Splendor, His Awesomeness, and everything about Him. Let us seek the presence of the Holy Spirit that will lead us to worship GOD as HE is. HE is surely waiting for us and GOD will be pleased because it will be about Him this time. All for His Glory, AMEN
Comments