How Am I to Worship God? by Horatius
Bonner. Man asks, How am I to worship
God? and he has answered it also in
his own way. In the gorgeous temple, in the
pillared cathedral, with incense, and vestments, and forms, and
ceremonies, and processions, and postures, he says, But these
performances are the will-worship of self-righteousness, not the
obedient service of men worshipping God in ways of his own choosing. Man cannot teach man how to worship
God. When he tries it, he utterly
fails. He distorts worship. He misrepresents
God, and he indulges his own sensuous or self-righteous tastes. His dim religious light is but
a reflection of his own gloomy spirit, and an ignorant misrepresentation
of him who is light. God's answer to man's question
is given in the Lord's words. Those who worship Him must worship
Him in spirit and in truth. The vestments may or may not
be lovely. That matters not. The music may
or may not be beautiful. The knees may or may not be bent. The hands may or may not be clasped. The place of worship may or may
not be a cathedral or a consecrated building. These are immaterial
things. near adjuncts of religion, not
its essence. The true worship is that of the
inner man, and all these other exterior things are of little
importance. As it is with love, so it is
with worship. The heart is everything. God
can do without the bended knee, but not without the broken heart. My son, give me your heart and
let your eyes keep to my ways.