Worship

Today's devotional was on Worship. The book talked about the different false forms of worship. It says that just going to church on Sunday is not good enough to be considered worship. Jesus said, "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matthew 15:8) We can say all that we want about how awesome God is or how thankful we are for the gift of Jesus Christ, but we must be careful that we are not just going through the motions.

The chorus to a song by Matthew West entitled "The Motions" sums this up powerfully:

I don’t wanna go through the motions
I don’t wanna go one more day
Without Your all consuming passion inside of me
I don’t wanna spend my whole life asking
What if I had given everything?
Instead of going through the motions

This speaks to me, because I don't believe that it's OK to just go through the motions or provide "lip-service" as Jesus said. God's great love for us demands that we respond by being real with Him. How can we worship Him simply by saying "Jesus is Lord" and not living it out?

"Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship."
-Romans 12:1

Reflection Questions

Q: How did a particular style of worship -- charismatic, traditional, contemporary, liturgical -- shape you and your image of God?
A: I was mostly raised with a mixture of traditional and contemporary styles of worship. This brings me to see God as someone to show reverence to in response to His awesome power and character, but also to praise Him for His great love and to offer all of myself in response to who He is.

Q: What about God moves you to worship?
A: "The Lord is my shepherd." He guides me, protects me, loves me, lays down his life for me, speaks with me, cares for me, feeds me, holds me, comforts me. What about God wouldn't move me to worship?