As a new Christian, I was quickly drawn to the biographies of faithful Christians in order to learn from their life examples. One of my first and now perennial favorites was an old British preacher named Charles Haddon Spurgeon. I have read a stack of biographies on him, visited his school, home, and grave, own a hand edited copy of one of his sermons hanging in my office, and even have a rare multi-volume set of out-of-print books that comprise the biography he was writing when he died that was then finished by his dear wife, which were gifted to me by my wife Grace.
One thing that has always struck me was that Spurgeon was called a “soul winner”. And, if I’m honest, the term has never quite sat right with me. We must remember that while Jesus is a soul winner, but he’s not solely a soul winner. Jesus saves and redeems every part of a person. Jesus renews our minds, rises our body from death, and redeems our soul. Every part of us was made by Jesus, belongs to Jesus, and is delivered from the pains and problems of sin by Jesus.
This precise fact is on display in John 9. There, a man who is both physically and spiritually blind is given both physical and spiritual healing and sight by Jesus. After being healed in body, he is then healed in soul as recorded in John 9:35-39, “Jesus heard that they had cast him out, and having found him he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” He answered, “And who is he, sir, that I may believe in him?” Jesus said to him, “You have seen him, and it is he who is speaking to you.” He said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.”
In this beautiful scene, we see the power of faith and worship. In faith, the man confessed Jesus as “Lord” and said, “I believe”. We read that then “he worshipped him.” This little word for worship was used in the ancient world to refer to the act of a citizen coming before their king, kneeling down, and kissing the feet of their proud king.
As our humble King of Kings, it is only right that we worship Him in humility, surrender, and honor. Sometimes, the best way to reflect this condition of the soul is to demonstrate it with our body by raising our hands in surrender and kneeling as we sing.
How have you seen your faith grow as you worship regularly, or diminish when your worship is infrequent?