John 4:23
But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.
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Jesus said those words to a Samaritan woman that He encountered at a well where He had stopped for a brief rest and a drink of water. Always ready in season and out {2Tim.4:2} just as we are to be, Jesus spoke to that woman of living water that only He can give. {Jn.4:154} And then the conversation turned to worship. When all is said and done, the single most important topic will be always be about worship!

She questioned the Lord about the fact that her people worshiped on the mountain, Mount Gerizim, while the Jews worshiped in Jerusalem. Thinking Jesus to be a prophet she was seeking to know which was correct. His response was that the answer was neither!

This is an answer that the Body of Christ needs to hear and understand today: It is not about the physical location or the building where you are, it is about where your heart is—God searches our hearts! {Jer.17:10} The only correct place to worship is 'in spirit and in truth’ as stated in today’s Bible verse. And that is about surrendering all to the Father!

The first place that the word worship is used is in the account of Abraham taking his son Isaac, his only son, up the mountain to offer him as a sacrifice to the Lord. {Gen.22} He said to those who had traveled to Mount Moriah with him that he and his son would go over there, 'and we will worship and return to you.' {Gen.22:5} That is a living prophesy of what the Father would do when He offered up His only begotten Son Jesus as a sacrifice to atone for our sins—an act of worship in spirit and in truth.

You and I, every true believer, is called to emulate that sacrifice, that holy and acceptable sacrifice to the Father just as Paul moved by the Holy Spirit wrote: “I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship.” {Rom.12:1}

Worship is not about a slow song as opposed to a 'bouncy' faster one, it is not about a quiet song rather than a very loud song, it is in fact not about music at all. Abraham did not take a guitar up that mountain, he took a heart totally obedient and given over to the will of the Father and the faith to trust in God's love more than his own! I for one really, really like the song ‘I Surrender All’ but I know from many years spent in the presence of the Savior that it is better for us to live it than to sing it! Something that I continue to desire to grow in as He continues to conform me into the image of His Son. {Rom.8:29} All of our giving thanks and our praise should lead to:

“Come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker. For He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand. ...” (Psalms 95:6-7)

An interesting afterthought: We are all the same height when we are bowed down on our faces before the Lord!

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO TO THE GLORY OF GOD