We humans are worshipers.
It is in our DNA… within the fabric of our humanness.
We long to worship… something… ANYTHING!
Finding something to worship gives us purpose, meaning to our unpredictable lives.
Deep in the depths of our souls we innately know that we are not enough by ourselves. We need something to complete us.
And so our lives become a cosmic game of hide and seek as we search for that thing, whatever it may be, that completes us.
If we are artsy, touchy-feely right brain types then we may explore the fanciful… nature, meditation, music, art. The narcissistic among us will focus on their own navels and lose themselves within their emotions.
Left brainers may delve into science, news, politics. The prideful will worship their own minds. They will enshrine their superior ability to figure it all out.
Most of us don’t even get that far. We remain in the shallow end of the pool of life, frenzy feeding on the latest cultural fads, spoonfed to us though our smartphone fish feeders. Still this is worship. Sports… celebrities… money… fame… these are all idols that we worship.
If we are religious, we will attempt to worship a higher power. But even that route often becomes just a reflection of ourselves.
I’ve watched many people reach the furthest end of their chosen idol’s abilities… find it lacking… and then drudge out the rest of their lives in quiet desperation. All is vanity, they lament! Smoke wisps in the wind! They may drink themselves into stupor or simply retreat into depression. What’s the point of it all?
I spent a lot of my life searching for the right thing to worship, the thing that would fit into the empty hole in my soul. I tried to be popular and pretty. I tried education and success. I tried relationships and physical pleasures. I tried drugs and alcohol. None of those things were the answer I was looking for. And so I retreated into depression. I attempted suicide. What was the point of living if there was no answer to the emptiness in my soul?
The Bible tells us to worship in spirit and in truth (John 4:24). But what is truth? Pilate asked Jesus this same question as he contemplated what to do with this innocent man… “Quid est veritas?”
I believe that Pontius Pilate was staring at the TRUTH when he voiced this question. Something inside him was disturbed by this strange man. Pilate was a man who had sent countless men to execution without the slightest misgiving.
Yet there was something about this man… something different.
The more I study about Him the more I understand what that something was. What that something is. There has never been anyone like Him. His many miracles are documented even by extra-Biblical sources. Hundreds of people watched Him die on the cross yet hundreds of people witnessed Him alive afterwards. There is so much reason to believe if we only take the time to study.
But there is so much more than physical evidence for me. When I found Jesus, I stopped looking. Because what I found wasn’t a religion at all, but a person. A real, live person I can speak to, have a friendship with, commune with.
Since I’ve known Him, He has healed me from all depression. When I attempted suicide by taking a handful of sleeping pills, He sent four angels to wake me and help me call for help. I’m alive today because He saved me. And now, I WANT to be alive because I have found my purpose in Him. I have finally found that perfectly shaped puzzle piece that holds my entire life together. In Him I find the keys to joy and peace, freedom and victory.
Jesus told Pilate that “everyone on the side of truth listens to Me.” And I believe Him.
I worship Jesus.
I believe that Pontius Pilate was staring at the TRUTH when he voiced this question.
