August 15

The true worshipers shall worship the Father in Spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. John 4:23

WORSHIP in Spirit and in truth does not apply simply to prayer, praise, supplication, and thanksgiving. It goes deeper than all these and takes hold upon the affections, upon the heart, and hence signifies not an "act of worship" but rather a life of worship--a life in which, through the begetting of the Spirit and the knowledge of the divine plan, the individual becomes so at one with God and so in unison with the law of God and all the features of the plan of God that it is, in the words of our Lord, his meat and his drink to do the Father's will. This is worship in Spirit and in truth. It will find its expression in bended knee and in orderly and reverential demeanor in approach to God in personal prayer, in family prayer and in company with the household of faith, and it will find its expression also in all the acts and words of life. The captivated heart will seek to bring every talent of the body into complete subjection to the will of God and of Christ. The whole of this is the worship which God seeketh; and, surely, only those who are thus captivated to the Lord in heart, and who serve him in Spirit and in truth and endeavor to have his will done in their hearts, words, and conduct are in the full sense the true worshipers whom the Lord seeketh; the "little flock," the faithful "royal priesthood."