April 14 - Worship

April 14 - Worship

Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”

“Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, 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 the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”

The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”

Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he.” (John 4:20-26)

It didn’t take long for the people of God to begin worshiping Him outside of Jerusalem.  After Jesus’ crucifixion, humanity no longer held God’s presence only in the Temple of Jerusalem, or in the Samaritan’s case – on the mountain she was standing upon.  With the ripping of that curtain at the moment of His death, we were allowed to come into His presence fully … on our own, without a priest to intercede for us.  Worship became a natural part of our relationship with God.

While we might give lip service to the idea of worship flowing throughout our lives, few of us really mean it.  It is more than sitting down and standing up on a Sunday morning for an hour as part of a structured service.  It is more than lifting our eyes to the heavens and taking in the glories of God’s creation. It is more than taking a few moments out of our day and acknowledging the greatness of our Creator.  It is all of those things … and more.

In Revelation we see all of creation bowing before the throne in heaven … over and over.  I’ve had many people worry that this will be boring for them once they get to heaven.  They have plans for all of eternity and standing around in white robes singing the same words over and over aren’t part of those plans.

But, I believe that is where our hearts should always be.  Those standing in heaven are clothed in white robes – covered in righteousness.  Psalm 51 says:

“…wash me and I will be whiter than snow … create in me a pure heart, O God.” (Ps. 51: 7b, 10a).  What if those white robes represent our cleansed hearts?  Those hearts can be in the presence of God right now!  We don’t have to wait until we are bodily in heaven to worship in the throneroom. 

What if while we were doing the things that we do during our day our hearts were in the presence of God singing out: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty, who was, and is, and is to come.”

How would this change our daily lives?  When we stand in the presence of God worshipping Him, we reflect that glory to the world around us.

Jesus came to announce that the Kingdom of God was at hand.  It isn’t far away … waiting for us to die.  It is right now.  We can worship God right now.  We can be in the throne room with Him no matter what is happening in our lives.

Worship Him in Spirit and truth.  Worship Him with everything you have.  Your location doesn’t matter. You don’t have to be on the mountain or in Jerusalem, you just have to be.