We were made for worship. Every person created by God lives in a way that worships something. Isaiah 43:21 says, “The people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” God designed us to praise him, but the enemy often takes advantage of our desire to stand in awe by presenting us with counterfeits of the one true God.
Worship means respectful devotion. It’s loving, honoring, and obeying someone who deserves our highest regard. It’s so easy to let ourselves be distracted by reflections of God rather than striving to honor Him alone.
One way to evaluate if our worship is sincere is to assess what in our life fills our time, consumes our thoughts, and is the object of our affection. If we are honest, there are many “good things” that we prize more than our relationship with Jesus. It’s so easy to do what seems like the right things for the wrong reasons.
For me, I’ve found that parenting oftentimes can become a distraction. I can get so caught up in what my kids need, hovering over them and believing that I am their sole protection, as well as obsessing over my every failure as a mom, that I forget that they are not to be my only object of affection. I am first a child of God, just as they are, and we are to live and worship him together. My primary job as a parent is to show my kids Jesus. I am not to elevate my kids to be more important than Jesus in my life.
That’s just one example of how something good becomes a false god in our lives. Career, success, money, educational goals, entertainment, gender identity, and basically any other human construct can so easily become an idol.
How do we avoid being deceived, distracted, and distanced from God? If we are to be worshippers of truth, we must study what the Bible tells us our worship is to be.
Let’s explore what the Bible tells us about worship:
John 4:24 tells us, “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.” God is spirit. He is more than an embodied figure. He is a spiritual being and therefore when we come to worship him, the essence of who we are – our spirit – must offer true praise to him.
When we come to God to worship, a part of us that was made to connect with the Holy, the divine, the spiritual, and with our Creator comes to life. Worship ignites passion in us, brings joy when we need it, and healing when life is heavy. This is true because when we approach God in true worship, our souls have the opportunity to connect with the God of the universe in a very special way that offers grace for our journeys here on Earth.
Colossians 3:16 says, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” How vital is it for us to know the God we are worshiping! How do we know God better? By studying his Word and world. We see glimpses of his creative nature by learning and observing the world he made. The story of God’s plan and promises is laid out in the Bible. The more we study it, the more we know him!
His word dwells in us like a rich reservoir we can draw upon. It reminds us of the true nature of this world and reminds us that we are made with purpose on purpose. Meditation on the Word of God through study or through singing silences the many voices we hear around us that want to pull us away from God.
The first thing I remember doing when the pandemic hit and we truly had no idea what the next day held was walking and saying, singing, and praying God’s word. I knew that those truths had given hope to many Christ followers who had faced even more scary ordeals. They reminded me that even though I could not predict tomorrow, I serve a God who knows all my tomorrows. This worship anchored me to something who felt secure when the world truly felt like it had been turned upside down.
Worship is our rock when everything else feels like it’s sinking away.
The Psalms find so many ways to remind us that God is worthy of our praise! Psalm 145:3 says, “Great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised, and his greatness is unsearchable.” Being reminded that God is unsearchably greater than anything we could even imagine helps to bring proper perspective into our lives. We can feel secure knowing we serve the one who is able to provide!
Psalm 63:3-4 tells us, “Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands.” We worship God for who he is! He is a God of love. We praise him because he is good, our friend, and because we can trust his great love for us.
Psalm 96:9 says, “Worship the Lord in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!” God is holy. That means he is scared. His perfection calls us to live with humble hearts before God.
Hebrews 12:28 states, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe.” Grace delivered us salvation, rather than the wages of sin we had earned – death. Our hearts should daily sing out in gratitude that God gave us the gift of life that we could never provide for ourselves. Without Jesus’ death and resurrection, we would be without hope on this earth.
Romans 11:36 says, “For from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever. Amen.” God is the maker and sustainer of all Heaven and earth. He has perfectly set all of creation in motion in such a synchronized way that even the smallest deviation from his plan would make it impossible for all we know to exist. We can be thankful for his good design for all of Creation.
In a world full of distraction, let’s be people who are diligent to seek first the Kingdom of God. Let’s be intentional about laying down the idols of our lives, leaning into God’s Word so we can know him better. Let’s daily be people filled with gratitude for all God is and what he has done for us!
He is a cross pendant.
He is engraved with a unique Number.
He will mail it out from Jerusalem.
He will be sent to your Side.
Emmanuel
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