Some thoughts on worship

Worship is more than just the music that is being played while we attend our churches. It goes beyond the emotions that you or I could be feeling, or the hands that get raised high in a sign of surrender.  Worship is deeper, but at the same time it’s so simple. We make it complicated, and we are the ones that came up with the hoops that newborn believers have to jump through in order to be spiritual!

Worship could be summarized in this statement “appropriate response to God’s presence.” The realization that the King of the universe is right here, right now, in the airplane where I’m typing these words. Right now in the room where you are reading these words. in that church service where you gather with your community of believers on a weekly basis. It does not matter if the worship is loud or soft, hymns or contemporary. It goes beyond the music, the setting, and the stage. It’s all about the heart—your heart and my heart.

For so long we have taken worship for granted. We have limited it to the four-song set list that is played at church and we have shamelessly forgotten all about the fact that worship is a lifestyle. It’s the full awareness that the King of the universe takes delight in you, in me. My worship is not just reflected in my singing or your dancing at church.  It’s also reflected in our giving, and again, get out of the box please, not just your offering or tithing.  When was the last time that we did take care of a widow or an orphan like we were called to do, or when was the last time we broke bread with the ones in need? Our worship is reflected in our priorities. We could sit down and talk for a long time about this item, but lets just encapsulate it in the fact that God has little to no room in our busy schedules when he ought to be the centerpiece upon which our lives should be built. 

I believe it is time that this generation of followers of Christ comes to the realization that the way we live, our work ethic, the way we treat our families, our intimacy, even our secrets are acts of worship—and it is up to us to present our lives to our king like an alabaster jar that is completely and fully poured out in His presence daily. After all, we were called to worship in spirit and truth. How can we truly say that our hearts are wholly surrendered to him unless we do begin to worship him with the entirety of our life? Turn off the music, turn on you heart.