Today I wanted to touch on a subject that is close to my heart. I thought I may elaborate a bit more on what biblical worship is. Because in reality, I think a lot of people assume worship is a style or genre of music. But if you've been in church for any length of time, you may have heard some messages on what worship really is.
Worship is reverent honor and homage paid to God, (as defined in Dictionary.com.) We are to worship in Spirit and in Truth!! (John 4:24). TRUE worshippers - not those who seek the spotlight, or who seek affirmation from others, or who are only in it for the blessings! Woah! I am forever blown away by the magnitude of what it is to have the privilege of worshipping the Father IN HIS PRESENCE! Literally, being face to face with our creator! It's no small thing. It's not something we should look upon as a requirement to being a good Christian. Although, yes we ARE required to lay down our lives to him daily (Luke 9:23). We are required to love the Lord with all our heart, all our mind, all our soul (Matthew 22:37). We are privileged to be in His presence. I thank my Jesus for his sacrifice in laying down his life, so we could be in the Holy of Holies!
To be a full time worshipper isn't about standing around, singing songs to God all day. Although I could absolutely do that from time to time! It isn't about going to church on a Sunday, and being a 'good' person. But that's not a bad thing to do, either. No, being a full time worshipper is about both of these things, and it's also about living a lifestyle dedicated to God. "Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship". (Romans 12:1)
As I've said before (and I'll probably harp on about it throughout most of my blogs) is that to live a lifestyle of worship is to dedicate your whole life to God, in every area and to bring glory to His name in all things. We worship God because of who he is - not who we are! This right here is such a beautiful thought. Worship is about Him alone! Worship is…"heaping on God praise, with all of our resources, for His mighty acts and His excellent greatness” (Ronmanwri wornotes.)
Sometimes, as people, we can tend to get a bit stuck in our feelings. How do you think this affects our worship? I think if we choose to worship God based on how we're feeling, it would be like a yoyo - one day I'm feeling good, so I'm gonna lift up some praise to God! Then the next day I feel a bit 'meh', so i'll just leave the praise and worship time for now. Now please don't get me wrong, I understand that there are seasons in life where all you can muster up is to actually get out of bed for the day. Maybe not even that! But do you know, if you're real with God, he hears you and he sits patiently with you. You might be thinking, what does this have to do with worship? Well, when you are living a lifestyle of worship, even in your lowest times, knowing that it's all about Him, you can rest in the knowledge that even in the difficult seasons, God is there. And He is loving and kind and deserving of whatever we can bring him! He knows our hearts. Trust in His goodness.
Living a lifestyle of worship is a wonderful place to be in. It's real, it's raw, and it's pleasing to God. It's 'LOVE responding to LOVE' (Sylvia Fraser). Phew! The love in us is only there because of the love of God (We love because he FIRST loved us 1 John 4:19), and so the natural response is to pour out that love and adoration to the One who created us.
I may delve more into the love of God in another blog, and try not to write an essay - my ministry studies are coming back to me! haha.
Be blessed and I can't wait to share some more thoughts with you again soon.
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