"True Worship?"

Why do we go to church on Sundays? That is a question that we should all look in the mirror and ask ourselves from time to time. In 1 Samuel 15:30, Saul, upon being called out for his arrogance and disregard for God's instruction, replies to Samuel (the prophet) by saying, "I have sinned. But please honor me before the elders of my people and before Israel; come back with me, so that I may worship the Lord your God."

To some this response may seem harmless, but upon truly reading that text it comes clear that Saul's problem ran deeper than disobedience. The word 'honor' in its original language literally means: to be heavy, be numerous; or to be impressive, renowned or glorified. Saul knew that if he returned to his people without the presence of the prophet Samuel, his worship would not have been legitimized. Literally, it would not have "been heavy" or carrying much weight. But if he could somehow have the man who represented God's presence with him, it would appear to the people that everything was alright.

This text reveals for us a serious character flaw in Saul... He was more concerned with the image of worship than he was with true worship. He wanted to appear to the people as a sincere God-follower, but in reality he was living for himself.

My suspicion is this:
Many of us have Saul-syndrome, in that we often times get more caught up in the image of Christianity than we do in the authenticity of it. We would rather appear to be worshipping God when really we worship ourselves (our flesh).

My challenge is this:
Read Isaiah 29:13 in the quiet moments of your alone time with God, and ask God to make your worship authentic. Let's get back to "True Worship."

Appendix:
Isaiah 29:13, "The Lord says: "These people come near to me with their mouth 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."

Be blessed.