“true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers.” John 4:23
What does God want? It’s a timeless question. Jesus told the woman at the well that the Father seeks a specific type of person…a true worshipper. We tend to think in terms of what God wants us to do. He thinks in terms of who He wants us to be. Because who we are determines what we do. And who we desire to please affects the work we do and the way we do it.
It’s as old as Cain and Abel (Genesis 4:4-5). Abel realized he was a sinner and his offering confessed that fact. Cain’s offering, on the other hand, revealed no sense of sin, but of self-sufficiency. He offered the works of his hands and expected God to accept it because he regarded it as his best (Hebrews 11:4). He tried to worship God on his own terms.
Throughout history people have pursued religion while God pursues relationship. Nothing infuriates a religious person more than God rejecting their works as inadequate. This is why the scribes and Pharisees were always at odds with Jesus. They were driven by outward appearance and behavior. They sought to establish traditions rather than to live in truth.
Don’t we sometimes do the same thing? We can get more comfortable with our religious traditions than with the truth of Scripture. When tradition starts to come before truth, we’re in trouble. Merely keeping religious traditions keeps our focus on outward appearances rather than the inward reality. In other words, we’re swayed more by what others think than by what God knows.
So, what does God want? He wants a relationship with you; and how you approach that relationship matters. Are you willing to move beyond the external? Beyond mere tradition? What personal choices reveal a greater desire to please yourself than to please God? The heavenly Father is seeking true worshippers…those who worship Him from the heart, and who order their lives around the truth of His Word. Does that describe you?