JUL 27

John 4:21-24
Memorise Psalm 145:18
"The LORD is nigh unto all them... that call upon him in truth"

Sometimes, we have all the right motives, have the right heart and right spirit, and are extremely sincere in wanting to do the right thing. However, we could also be sincerely wrong. This is why worshipping in truth is as important as worshipping in spirit.

To worship in truth means to worship God only in the way He wants us to, in accordance to the truth that He has given us in His word. Often, we hear people exclaim, “well only the heart matters, why bother so much about the rest?” You see, it may not seem that important to us, but it is important to God. He wants us to worship not only in spirit, but also in truth. He is a jealous God, who will not tolerate worship that is not ascribed solely to Him. Throughout the Bible He has revealed to us various principles and instructions as to how we ought to rightly worship Him, and therefore, as obedient children, we are to follow. After all, the object of worship is God, and not us. Therefore, we should only worship in the way that He wants us to, and not how we want it to be. To worship any other way will show our disobedience, and reveal the fact that we are really only worshipping for our own sakes and not God’s.

When we want to thank a person or honour him for something praiseworthy that he has done, we must first know what he has done before we can thank and reward him properly. If we have only a vague notion that he is generally a decent and good person, our words or letter of thanks can only be very generically worded, and will come off as insincere. Likewise when we worship God, we must know Him well first and know how He wants us to worship Him before it can be considered true worship.

Worship must therefore not only be from the heart, but also from the head as well. Worship must be orderly, logical, with a mind focused on God. True worship must be based on sound doctrine, for we must first know who God is, before we can rightly worship Him. It is not just about a frenzied, emotionally charged experience whereby we pour our hearts to God, but it involves deep reverential praise of the attributes, ability and works of God in our lives.

Thought: True sincere worship can only happen if it is based on the truth.
Prayer: Lord, help me to know You better so I can worship You better.