”God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
John 4:24New International Version (NIV)
John 4:24 Devotional
Worship God in the Spirit and truth
John 4:24 reveals that God’s worshippers worship Him in the Spirit and truth. This is because God is Spirit.
The context of this verse is the conversation that Jesus had with a Samaritan woman at the well that was located in Jacob’s land. This is the field that Jacob gave to his son Joseph.
Therefore, in their conversation, the woman desires to receive the water that Jesus offers (verse 15). But Jesus reveals her hidden sin. Because hidden sin would have kept her from seeing the light of Christ.
Sin is like spiritual leprosy. It deadens your senses so you rip your soul to shreds and don’t even feel it. But Christ has set his sights on this woman’s conversion. So he lays bare her spiritual leprosy. “You’ve had five husbands and the man you’re sleeping with now is not your husband.”
Cornered, the woman admitted that Jesus had an extraordinary insight (verse 19). That Jesus was a prophet. And instead of dealing with her guilt, she diverted Jesus into a controversy concerning worship.
Therefore, she raised the issue of where people ought to worship. Jesus responded by emphasizing the importance of how she was to worship and whom she was to worship. Meaning that how and whom you worship is the more important matter.
The Samaritans rejected all the Old Testament except for their version of the books of Moses. Therefore, their knowledge of God was deficient and so was their worship. It was not in the Spirit and truth.
Therefore, to worship in the Spirit is to worship from the heart or from within. It’s the opposite of formal, ceremonial, external worship by those whose hearts are not right with God (Mathew 15:8). Meaning that the most important factor in being a worshiper is to guard and cultivate your heart for God.
Finally, to worship God in truth means that we worship Him according to His revelation of himself to us. That is, for all that He is in the majesty of His attributes as revealed in all of Scripture.
Prayer/Blessing
Lord, help me worship You in the Spirit and truth. Amen.
Daily Bible Reading
Genesis 1-3 (see How to Read the Bible in One Year or How to Read the Bible (for Beginners))
