“Our
fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem is the place where men
ought to worship.” John 4:20
My daughter, Grace, and I were running early one
Saturday morning along the river. That’s when I often inspired as we pray and
worship God together. We discussed the
concept of worship, and how sometimes we equate worship to a limited period of
time, a specific place, and an event that must be led by a specific person or
group of people. Have you ever wondered why these are conspicuously absent in
the New Testament?
The Samaritan woman embraced this paradigm of
worship, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, and you people say that in Jerusalem
is the place where men ought to worship.” But Jesus
gently corrected her, “Jesus said to her, “Woman, believe Me, an hour
is coming when neither in this mountain nor in Jerusalem will you worship
the Father.”” John 4:20-21. Worship is
not limited to a place, time, or special people who lead us, at least it wasn’t
in the early church. We were born again to be worshippers! Jesus went on to
instruct this woman, “the true worshipers will worship the Father in
spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” The
key to worship is praising God from the heart…wherever you are. Every believer
has the Holy Spirit who enables them to worship God “in the Spirit,” sincerely,
and from the heart. God isn’t impressed with ritualistic and memorized prayers
if our heart is far from Him.
You are a worshipper -always, everywhere you
go. Don’t be fooled into thinking that
your relationship with God must be limited to a few hours a week at a certain
place, or led by a special group of people.
It is who you are!
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