Jan
28
Spirit and Truth
Filed Under Devotional
When learning to write fiction, I was taught to use lots of descriptive words. I was supposed to use nouns with precise meaning and verbs that gave the sense of action, emotion, and conflict. Words are amazing things. As you use more, you help hone in on the idea or picture you are trying to convey. The more descriptive words you use, the better chance you’ve communicated the same image you had in your mind.
On the other hand, when you use few words, its leaves lots of room for understanding and interpretation. That’s not always a bad thing. I realized that God uses some Scripture this way. He says some thing intentionally open-ended or vague. He does this to get us thinking and then He can work with our hearts and minds to get the message across. The beauty of this is that the same passage can impart various pieces of wisdom to different people at different times. I felt like there were many ways to go with this verse, but I’ll tell you where it took me:
“God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:24
This reminded me of how God wants our heart in it. The worship and sacrifices of those under the Mosaic Law were through animal sacrifice and obedience to rules of how to dress, your personal hygiene, who to associate with, what to eat, and more. The old law had a lot to say about what you did on the outside.
Jesus came to remind us that God wants your heart. What really matters is whether your spirit worships Him. Whether your heart wants to obey Him. And, of course, the truth part is how honest you’re being about it. Are you being truthful about your worship, or are you faking it? Are you phoning it in? Are you taking Sundays off?
All the other gods require that you go through certain motions or dress a particular way or perform certain rituals. God simply wants your heart to desire Him. He wants you to follow Him.
Are you worshiping Him in spirit? In truth?