WorthShip

Have you ever felt like seeking God is hard work? I mean we put pressure on ourselves to have consistent daily quiet times, go to Bible study, be at church every time the doors are open, and "be good little Christians". Nothing wrong with trying to be a good Christian or having set daily quiet times or going to church/Bible study (those are all admirable things), but are we doing those things in order to seek God or out of duty? Are our actions sincere or are we simply going through the motions.


No where in the Bible does it say "Thou shalt go through the motions necessary to make a good impression on God and others". God knows our hearts even better than we do. He knows when we are sincere and when we are playing church or trying to get the "Christian of the Year Award". I think all too often we forget that everything we do should be an act of worship to God.......not just going through the obligatory daily routine.



In John 4:19-24, Jesus is talking to the Samaritan woman at the well..........

"Sir," the woman said, "I can see that you are a prophet. Our fathers worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem."
Jesus declared, "Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."

The word worship in this verse comes from the Anglo-Saxon word "weorthscipe" which literally means "worthship". When we worship in Spirit and in Truth, we are showing God how much He is worth to us...........and sadly, when we go through the motions and "half-heartedly semi-worship" out of obligation, we are also showing God how much He is worth to us.

I think we limit worship to what happens in the pews at the local church, but when we are given new life in Christ, we are called to worship Him in Spirit and in Truth.....not just on Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesdays at 6:30, but in our daily lives. Everyday worshippers are the ones God is seeking -- people who can worship God in Spirit and in Truth without a worship leader and a 3 bullet-point sermon. See, where you worship really doesn't matter, Whom you worship and HOW you worship Him is is what is really important. The steeple and the pews are irrelevant to a person who desires to worship in Spirit and in Truth.


John 4 says that the Father actually SEEKS those who truly worship Him in Spirit and in Truth........the word "seeks" here means to enquire, desire, to seek after. God enquires about, desires, and seeks after those who drop the Phariseeical obligations and simply worship Him for Who He is.

So, if you see seeking God as hard work......stop working and start worshipping......and then HE will seek YOU!