A time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. John 4:23
Intense pain and a debilitating headache prevented me from attending services with my local church family . . . again. Grieving the loss of community worship, I watched an online sermon. At first, complaints soured my experience. The poor sound and video quality distracted me. But then a voice on the video warbled a familiar hymn. Tears flowed as I sang these words: “Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart. Naught be all else to me save that Thou art. Thou my best thought, by day or by night. Waking or sleeping, Thy presence my light.” Focusing on the gift of God’s constant presence, I worshiped Him while sitting in my living room.
While Scripture affirms the vital, essential nature of corporate worship (Hebrews 10:25), God’s not bound within the walls of a church building. During Jesus’ chat with the Samaritan woman at the well, He defied all expectations of the Messiah (John 4:9). Instead of condemnation, Jesus spoke truth and loved her as she stood next to that well (v. 10). He revealed His intimate and sovereign knowledge of His children (vv. 17–18). Proclaiming His deity, Jesus declared that the Holy Spirit evoked true worship from the hearts of God’s people, not from a specific physical location (vv. 23–24).
When we focus on who God is, what He’s done, and all He’s promised, we can rejoice in His constant presence as we worship Him with other believers, in our living rooms . . . and everywhere!
Where do you enjoy worshiping God? How do you enjoy His presence and experience joy while worshiping Him?
Amazing God, please help me worship You as I rejoice in who You are, what You’ve done, and all You promise to do.
INSIGHT
Who were the Samaritans? According to 2 Kings 17, after the Northern Kingdom of Israel was defeated by Assyria in 722 bc and most of its people taken into exile, other captured peoples were brought in to populate the region known as Samaria (v. 24). When they first arrived, they didn’t “worship the Lord,” and so God sent lions among them (v. 25). Then the king of Assyria sent a Jewish priest to the land to teach the people how to worship God, but the people continued to worship other gods (vv. 27–29). The Samaritans came from this exchange of peoples and mixture of beliefs.