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Worship Is?
All to Jesus I surrender, all to Him I freely give.
I will ever love and trust
Him, in His presence daily live.
I surrender all. I surrender all.
All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.
Far too many Christians believe that worship is something that transpires between 11 A.M. and 12 noon on Sundays.
However, worship is much more than giving an hour a week, less for some, to the service of the sanctuary. Anyone can
do that on Sundays—come to a building designed for fellowship with one another and with God. For some the sanctuary
is a restaurant, a sports complex, a golf course, their work, or their bed. We can define our sanctuary in many ways. But
the children of the Almighty God have a much higher privilege. Knowing Him through daily worship is the opportunity for us,
once redeemed, to literally take on the characteristics of the God we worship…that is, we become partakers of God’s
divine nature. (see 2 Peter 1:4)
Worship is…becoming like Him. By daily worshipping Him, we become more
and more like Him. We’ve all seen kids imitate their favorite TV character. They dress like them, wear their hair like
them, they become them. In the same way, as we truly worship the God of Glory, we are allowed to take on the characteristics
of God’s holiness that sets us apart from the worship of every other god. What an awesome way to become like Jesus!
Worship is…Treasuring God. It is allowing ourselves to value Him. His words, His deeds and His thoughts far
above those of others and ourselves. “Worthship” is the old English word that is still sometimes used today. It
means placing worth on something. Worship is seeing what God is worth and then giving Him due honor and adoration. To say
that we treasure God is to say that what He says and how He feels about things matters to us immensely.
Worship
is…Giving to God. Psalm 96:7 says: “Ascribe to the LORD, (give to the Lord), glory and
strength.” We give Him glory as we see Him to be the prominent of who we are and what we have. We give Him strength
by allowing His to become ours. Our giving is offering our lives to Him. The truth is, God is worthy to receive all praise,
glory, honor, power, wealth, wisdom, and strength. And what about all earthly things? Yes, He’s also worthy to receive
or time, money, weakness and our sin, He’s worth everything we’re willing to give him.
Worship is…Dethroning
Idols. Worship is transferring our affections from temporary false comforts (also known as idols) and placing them upon God.
What are some of your temporary comforts? To what or to whom do you turn after a bad day? Do you head for the refrigerator
or the television to escape your pain? Are you saturated by food, sports, and ‘escape novel’ or some other gratification?
Don’t misunderstand me. None of these are evil. But its when we use them to anesthetize the frustrations of our day
and hide from God they become addictions. Yes, repentance is a part of worship. We need to transfer our affections back to
the true and living God. Coming face-to-face with the meaning of true love casts out all our fears.
Worship is…Faith
Focused. An unfortunate virtue of all human beings is that we must perceive life through one of our five senses. This becomes
our standard for judgment. If it doesn’t make sense to our natural minds, we must enter the realm of faith—or
believing in something we cannot see, feel or understand. That’s where God lives folks. And He will see to it that we
are led into that realm before He shows us very much of His character. We wouldn’t have the capacity to grasp it otherwise.
The problem is, many are bit a apprehensive of that realm of faith. We find it intimidating to “blindly trust”
a God who has guaranteed nothing but His presence in the process. Therefore we reserve the right to trust Him or not trust
Him, depending on the circumstance. So, when/if we read the Bible we pick and choose as to what we will comply. So, what keeps
us from the One who can transform the hideous into the holy?
Many of us have carried around deep wounds and scars
for years and they hinder our ability to respond to the Lord of worship. The nice way to phrase this is “distractions
in the Holy Place.” Constant pain in our lives result in unresolved issues with God and others and goes against the
holiness and wholeness of God. These issues keep us out of God’s healing presence and waste our time in the wilderness.
The problem is that many of us don’t know what the issues are. Nevertheless they keep the life of Jesus from us.
Dealing with these kinds of issues can take time, energy and commitment to the fire of God’s presence and truth
before a genuine breakthrough comes. Challenging though it may be, if we are committed into seeing wholeness in our lives,
God will see to it that “the sum of Righteousness rises with healing in His wings” to carry is to that place of
promise. He wants us to be free and fully able to come to Him with every concern. And He’s ready to move heaven and
earth to accomplish that for YOU and me. What a promise!
Worship is…Abiding in the Vine. Whether it be within
the confines of your personal sanctuary or in the congregation, your words of thanksgiving must speak the same language as
the One who gives life. If He says, “Come Unto Me,” then you must say, “To You I come.” You must choose
the life that He offers if you are to grow as a fruit-producing branch from the Vine. Just as apple trees naturally produce
apples, staying connected to Jesus naturally and supernaturally produces the fruit of worship in your life.
You
were created to offer yourself as worship to God. Daily. Even though it is possible to worship Him and not really know Him,
it is almost impossible to know Him and not truly worship Him. Like the chicken and the egg—which comes first? Time
spent in worship can only improve your knowledge of God and your desire to worship Him. If indeed He has the words of life,
where else can you go to find freedom to live?
Thanks,
Mark
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