Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father.You worship what you do not know; we know what we worship, for salvation is of the Jews. But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him. God is Spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:21-24
Worship in spirit and truth
Jesus declared that those who worship God must worship Him in Spirit and in Truth! Why did Jesus make this statement? If people are not worshipping God in spirit and in truth then how are they worshipping God? Are they worshipping Him in lies and/or half truths? Are they worshipping Him based on their culture and how they were raised? Are they worshipping Him in the flesh rather than in the spirit?
Every person who believes in a god has an image and an idea of God that may or may not be completely true. The scripture in Genesis tells us that God created us in His image. He chose to define us and give us the privilege of being created in His likeness, which is different from all His other created beings. People spend years trying to find themselves apart from finding God. If God created us in His image, shouldn’t we try to find God first!?
Others try to create God in their own image. We perceive Him based on our preferences or hurts. Some will define Him based on their past experiences with their natural parents. Some will identify Him with their spiritual leaders. Some see Him as a permissive God and others will perceive Him to be critical and intolerant. The reality is that God cannot be all these things. A perfect and holy God is a reliable God who doesn’t try to confuse us about who He is. All roads and all religions don’t lead to the same God!
Is it just enough to worship God even though we don’t know who we are worshipping? Not according to the above scripture. Jesus said to the woman at the well those who worship God must worship him in spirit and in truth. What does this mean?
The Lord is pleased when we worship Him in truth. There are a lot of ideas, lies, and half truths about God in the world. It is not enough to just worship God, but what pleases Him is to get to know the truth about who he really is and worship Him for it.
For example, if your name was the same as a famous person such as Francine Rivers or Tim Lahaye, people by mistake might identify you as a famous Christian writer. If they approached you and said all kinds of nice things about you and complemented your writing, would you be excited about this conversation? Most likely not. You wouldn’t feel a connection to this person because you know they have a different idea of you than who you really are. Their sincerity about liking their perceived author would not make you feel loved or appreciated.
In a similar way, if we are going to worship God and tell him how great and awesome He is, we should know the truth about the God we serve, so we can communicate to Him about who He really is and what is true about Him. Sincerity in worship is important, but first we must find the real God among all the other gods!
Is your idea of God line up with the truth written in the Bible? If you’re not sure, begin to read the word of God regularly and the word will clarify the truth about the nature of God.
