But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him. God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
John 4:23–24 ESV.
One Friday evening, a married couple, Edvard and Emma, was at home watching a movie, laying on the couch beside each other. For the past couple of months, Edvard had been coming home earlier from work so that they could spend more time together, usually by watching movies and playing video games.
As the movie ended and the credits were rolling, Emma turned to the Edvard and said, “That was nice, but…”
“But what?” Edvard asked, stroking Emma’s hair.
“I wish I could pick a movie once,” Emma said with her eyes down, “and maybe we could do something I want to do.”
Edvard shook his head and turned back to the TV. “Don’t worry about that sweetie. I just wanna spend more time with you.” Holding up the remote, he picked another movie that he wanted to watch, another filthy comedy on Netflix. Within the first five seconds, there was another crude joke. Edvard burst out laughing. Already he was enjoying the movie.
Emma lowered her head and sighed.
“I love you baby!” Edvard said as he wrapped his arms around Emma and hugged her tightly.
“Yeah… you too…”
The End
Edvard is such an affectionate husband, don’t you think? He has been spending hours together with Emma every single day. Nothing, absolutely nothing, can keep him away from their precious time together. He is wholly dedicated to it. And that’s what important, right? Their time together and the dedication?
Obviously not. Edvard is a selfish bastard. There is more to a relationship than just fellowship and dedication.
It makes no sense, whatsoever, to claim that you love someone while doing your best to remain ignorant of that person. Even worse, if they have been making an active effort to tell you about themselves, yet you keep shunning their efforts, what does that say? Can you call that love?
No. When you truly love someone, you will want to learn more about them to make them happy. You want to do that which delights them.
The same is true for Christianity. Every Christian who loves Jesus will want to know more about him, so that we can delight him. And fortunately, we can, because Jesus teaches us about himself through the Scriptures, which bear witness about him (John 5:39), and is profitable for teaching and instruction (2 Tim. 3:16; Rom. 15:4). Jesus is truth (John 14:6), and his word is truth (John 17:17; 2 Tim 2:15). Furthermore, the Holy Spirit has come to lead us into all the truth (John 16:13).
God is seeking people who “will worship the Father in spirit and truth,” a people who “must worship in spirit and truth” (John 4:23–24). Thus, the scriptures must be clear to us, not vague. After all, how could we worship him in truth if we couldn’t learn the truth?
Let us do so. Let us examine the Scriptures to learn who God is. Let us worship God as he is, not as who we want him to be. After all, God is not an idol that you can mold into any shape you please; to the contrary, he is the sovereign God who molded you.
