Understanding WORSHIP 2

The Art of Knowledge

John 4:41-42 "And many more believed because of his own word; and said unto the woman, Now we believe, not because of thy saying: for we have heard him ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world" Worship is a function of knowledge, because you don't worship what you don't know. Knowledge preceeds worship; that is the right order. But the opposite is the case of many people. They worship what they don't know. I mean they have never had personal encounter or meeting with God whom they worship. In the above scripture, the people had personal meeting with Jesus and they knew him better, after hearing about him from the woman of Samaria. And Bible says they believed in Jesus because of his own word. That is worship. Having a personal encounter, meeting or relationship with God is what we call worship. Taking decisions in your life or doing things based on what you personally hear from God is true worship. After going to church and hearing the pastor's preaching or counseling, have you sought God personally to know him? Do you rely only on what you hear in church or from people about God and you think you have known God? The people in the scripture above did not hear what the samarian woman said about Jesus and believe without personal knowledge about Jesus. Bible says that after they left the woman, they went to Jesus and asked him to stay with them for some days. It was during the two days Jesus stayed with them that they had a personal knowledge about God. As a result of this, they could worship God in the true way because they have known the truth. Jesus is the truth(John 14:6). No man can worship God in truth without knowing Jesus. And when we talk about knowing Jesus, it is a personal thing. You've got to know God personally. You must have a personal meeting or relationship with God like those people did. When you do this, you will have a right sense of worship, you will know how to worship God in spirit and in truth. This is because worship has to do with everything about life,e.g the way you talk, the way you eat and what you eat, the way you dress, the way you pray, the kind of friends to have, the kind of songs you listeñ to, and so on. And there are some commandments of God that will be peculiar to you. What this means is that there are some things that Mr A is allowed to do but which you are not allowed to do. This is why you must know God by yourself and for yourself. You must have a personal knowledge about God. This is when you will have a true and perfect worship to God.

- Michael Olugbenga Babalola