Acts of Worship

Mark 12:29-31
"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these."

There's a difference between an act of worship and worship. In Mark 12:33, Christ acknowledges that what the scribe said was true: loving God with all the heart, with all understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices. You can find this principle working in the Old Testament; in I Sam. 15:22 -

"And Samuel said, Hath the LORD as great delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices, as in obeying the voice of the LORD? Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice, and to hearken than the fat of rams."

In Matt.23:26-28, Jesus rebukes the Pharisees and scribes. Let's read -

"Thou blind Pharisee, cleanse first that which is within the cup and platter, that the outside of them may be clean also. Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whited sepulchres,which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness. Even so ye also outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within ye are full of hypocrisy and iniquity."

What Christ was pointing out was this: There's a BIG difference between an act of worship and worship. Do you know what that difference is? The answer is: It's a matter of the heart, according to what Christ confirmed to the scribe in Mark 12:33.

Jesus also taught that true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth (Jn 4:23).


Another way of looking at this question is like this: The difference between an act of worship and worship is the former is just an ACT; that is, the person is acting, pretending to worship. True worship comes from the heart. See I Cor. 13.

Dear Reader, the questions remains: Are you an actor or true worshipper?


In order to worship God, you must be saved. Are you? If not, here's how: The Plan of Salvation