Worship the True Formless God

Worship the True Formless God

September 1, 2015 Year B

Deuteronomy 4:15-20

We live in a world that is obsessed with form. We lose weight to have the right body form. We take selfies because we like our face to be noticed. We wear makeup and cut our hair to make sure that people can see our correct form. On the other hand, God doesn’t go through this trouble. Why is that?

The true God is formless (Deuteronomy 4:15-18). That is why we are told not to worship anything or anyone God created. We are not to worship any figure – whether human or animal. We are not to worship objects of creation – the sun, moon, or even the Earth.

We are called to trust the true formless God. Why is He formless? He is formless so that He cannot be copied. If God were to show His true form to people in the Old Testament, they would make the mistake of copying the real for a fictional form.

Does God have a form? Does He have a shape? Is He a Person we can recognize? Not as the Father, but as the Son. Jesus is the perfection mirror reflection of God’s nature (Colossians 1:15, Hebrews 1:3). As Dawson McAllister once said: “Jesus is God in a Bod.” Jesus is God in Human form. We are called to worship Jesus, just as we are called to worship God the Father. They share the desire and right to be worshiped. The only difference is that God the Father’s form is known to Jesus.

Does the fact that God does not have a form make a difference in our desire to worship Him? No. It just requires more trust. It is easier to trust someone who looks familiar to us. The danger is that we cross from true worship to idol worship.

We worship God for Who He is and what He has done, not for how He looks like.

Prayer: God, I want to worship You even when I don’t know exactly how You look.