The importance of true worship? (1)

God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth. (John 4:24)

God has commanded us to worship and praise him. It is essential for us to make praise and worship part of our lives, simply because God created us to praise Him. It is the purpose of our existence.

We have a deep felt need to worship God, even when we do not realise that we have this need – or even sometimes deny that we have it!
Wherever you find humans, you will find that they worship a god or gods. It may look a lot different from what we know as Christian worship, but humans are generally worshipping as part of the way they live. People have a need to reach out beyond their daily existence and declare their dependence of something higher and more powerful than themselves. People will always have a god - even if it is not the one true God revealed in Jesus Christ and the Bible.

But God commands us to become true worshipers who are worshiping the true God in spirit and in truth. John says in chapter 4:23-24: "But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be his worshipers. God is spirit; and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth."

God seeks true worshipers. They are people who come to him honestly, sincerely and reverently. To worship in spirit and truth is to engage the whole person in bringing honour, glory, praise and thanks to God through physical prayer and praise as well as emotional commitment, love and passion. We are also to be inspired and guided by the Holy Spirit to worship in truth.

To worship God with his people is our highest calling in life. Nothing compares to it, nothing can take its place in our lives and we do not have a higher priority!
Entering into true praise and worship is not optional. It is a command of God. It is crucial that we come to understand and practice true biblical praise and worship if we consider ourselves to part of Christ’s Body on earth.

We bring the sacrifice of praise
into the house of the Lord.
And we offer up to You
the sacrifices of thanksgiving,
and we offer up to You
the sacrifices of joy.