KISSING THE FACE OF GOD
“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship
the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks.”
(Jn. 4:23)
There is much of what we call worship in the church today. Hymns and choruses either traditional or contemporary are what many people equate with the concept of worship. Some even equate an emotional experience in church as “worship.” Jesus, in conversing with the Samaritan woman, clues her into what God is looking for and defining as worship. Music, singing, and experience do not constitute worship. The Father looks for those who worship in spirit and truth.
In studying the word Jesus uses that translates into English as worship (proskuneo), it literally means “toward someone to kiss” (pros = to, toward; kuneo = to kiss). It is interesting to see how God the Father and Son view true worship. In other words, God seeks out those who truly seek to kiss Him. Like a child who would climb upon the lap of their father and kiss his cheek out of a pure heart and desire to be with him. It doesn’t matter to that father where it takes place; just the joy of it taking place brings delight to him. The idea of worship to God relates closely to that of intimate time with an intimate, personal God.
When my wife and I celebrate our anniversary, we go out to a romantic, candlelight dinner with the sound of romantic music in the background to set an atmosphere where we can intimately reminisce over our first date, our first kiss. The music is not what makes our time intimate, or the candles. It’s the communion of our hearts that makes our time special. So it is when we worship God -- the music only creates an atmosphere where we can enjoy intimate fellowship. If I were ever unfaithful to my wife, she would know it intuitively, because the level of intimacy shared on my part would only be superficial. God also knows when we superficially worship Him. He describes to Isaiah of Israel, “these people come near to me with their mouths and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.” (Isaiah 29:13) Man has the propensity to go through the motions of worship with no heart to it. After all, Judas betrayed Jesus with a kiss.
Our worship must be directed toward God, He must be the object of our worship. If we enter into worship only for what we can get from it, the direction is not toward God, but toward self, hence, unprofitable or unfulfilling. Wholehearted devotion toward God, attributing the worth He rightly deserves as God and growing deeper in knowledge of who He is as He has revealed Himself in Scripture is the kind of spirit and truth worshipper God seeks after. Kiss the face of God as you worship Him today. -- Rev. Michael P. Woods, M.Div. served for over ten years as Director of Addiction Recovery Ministries at America's KESWICK. He is now on the pastoral staff at Faith Baptist Church in Hamilton, NJ
God's WORD for YOU: Proverbs 24 Job 1-2; Acts 7:22-43
Great Quote: We are brought into God's Kingdom by grace; we are sanctified by grace; we receive both temporal and spiritual blessings by grace; we are motivated to obedience by grace; we are called to serve and, finally, we are glorified by grace. The entire Christian life is lived under the reign of God's grace. Jerry Bridges
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