We spoke yesterday at Element about worship. Jesus said in John chapter 4:23 that God is looking for those who will worship Him in SPIRIT and in TRUTH. I said yesterday that we are great at worshiping in spirit, but not so much in truth. When we worship in spirit we experience the presence of God. When we worship in truth we desire and seek to become more like Him.
2 Kings 17:32-34 says this: These new residents worshiped the Lord, (They did the practice of worship. The ritual of it…) BUT they also appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests to offer sacrifices at their places of worship. And though they worshiped the Lord (in practice and ritual), they continued to follow their own gods according to the religious customs of the nations from which they came. And this is still going on today. They continue to follow their former practices instead of TRULY worshiping the Lord (And how could they truly worship the Lord?) and obeying the decrees, regulations, instructions, and commands he gave the descendants of Jacob, whose name he changed to Israel.
They worshiped in spirit but not in truth. My greatest worship… my TRUE worship IS obedience to God. As Samuel confronted Saul in 1 Samuel 15 he said: “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices (worship) or your obedience? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.”
Worshiping in spirit can come natural and easy. Worshiping in truth is where the rubber meets the road. You NEED both. Will you be a true worshiper?
Trying to worship,
Jeff
