As we continue our study of a sure way of growing as a child of God, we come to the third factor of our guaranteed growth, worship. This growth is not something that will happen overnight. This growth is not a fad, craze, or a whim. This guaranteed growth takes time and effort to build, but it is a sure and sound way to grow as a child of God.

Worship defined by Webster’s dictionary is reverence offered to a divine being or supernatural power; also, worship is an act of expressing such reverence. The word worship comes from the Old English word “weorthscipe.” This word means worthiness or respect. This fact gives us the idea of performing some action in respect to God to show God respect. This is what worship, in its basic form, is. And, when we perform this action of acceptable worship we grow closer to our God.

With that said, many may feel that one way or the other worship is a passive experience. That is to say, worship is done to them or for them while they watch rather than they being the active worshiper of God themselves. The truth of the matter is that worship is anything but a passive experience. It is in an active experience in which we bring our spiritual offerings to God as spiritual priests. Peter tells us, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ." (1 Peter 2:5 ) Paul teaches us, “By him (speaking of Christ) therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name.” (Heb 13:15 ) Worship truly is an active practice and not passive.

Jesus tells us, “But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24 ) Here we see the two sides of worship. The fact that God is Spirit means that God is everywhere and is not confined to one locale. It is not where you worship God that is of an importance but how we worship. (This is not to say that we do not have locations recognized for the purpose of performing worship, but these locations are for convenience and necessity and are not restrictive to where we can perform worship to God.) If one wants to worship God acceptably, Jesus says we must worship God in spirit and truth. This shows the two sides of worship. In the context of this text, we will notice that Jesus was speaking to the Samaritans. The issue is that the Samaritans worshiped God without regard to God’s commands of worship being in Jerusalem, and the Israelites worshiped God without heart; it was a matter of ritualism. Jesus confirms that acceptable worship consists of both attitude and actions.

To worship God in spirit means to worship God with zeal and love. We are not to worship God with the cold ritualism of the religious leaders of Jesus’ time. We are to praise God from the heart and mind. Paul tells us, “Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord.” (Eph 5:19 ) Our worship to God is performed by plucking the heart strings of a person’s heart.

To worship God in truth means to worship God the way that God commands. Jesus said, “Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth.” (John 17:17 ) Truth is God’s word. If we worship God in truth, we worship Him according to His word. This shows us that there are rituals and actions that we must perform that are acceptable to God. We can find these acceptable actions in God’s word. When we add or take away from these acceptable actions they no longer are in truth, and we become like those in the days of old. Jesus told the religious leaders of His day, “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matt 15:8-9 )

Let us strive for perfection in our worship to God. Let us perform this action in spirit (attitude) and truth (actions), and by doing so, let us continue to grow as a profitable child of God. If you are not a child of God, I plead with you to make the commitment by being obedient to the gospel of Christ.