When we think of worship, we often think of a small part of worship, such as the music portion of a church service. Perhaps we picture raised hands, dim lights, people singing. One may also picture a quiet time of prayer alone with God. As we think of the word worship, we should remember that it originally was pronounced “worthship”. We are ascribing worth to God through our praises, our prayers, and our lives.
In Deuteronomy 6:5, we find a verse which can help us shed light on the word worship and what it should mean. It reads, “And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart and with all thy soul, and with all thy might.”
Three areas of our lives we are to love God and worship him: heart, soul, might. Each area is important and it is important and distinct from the other and yet all work together as one. Our heart is the deep seat of emotion. It is where we “feel” love. This aspect of worship is the emotions. The thought of an all powerful God stooping down to rescue frail sinners like us should invoke an emotional response in us. Some show it more openly than others, but the fact that we didn't deserve this love should provoke us to an emotional response of some kind. In Psalm 86:12, we find this recorded by David,
I will praise thee, O Lord my God with all
my heart: and will glorify thy name forevermore.
There is a condition on this praising though as David reveals in Psalm 86:11:
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in
thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
David says I will worship with all my heart, but also teach me your ways that I can walk in them. If we are going to worship God with all our hearts, we must have His truth in us and be following it. We cannot worship with our whole heart if it is set on our way. We cannot worship with our whole heart if God does not have our whole heart. We like to keep portions back for ourselves many times, but that is not what whole heart worship looks like. Whole heart worship is giving everything to God and walking in His ways. When we unite our hearts to fear God, we have undivided reverence for who He is. We must always worship God in view of who He is. He is the High and Holy One described to us in Isaiah 6. He is above all, and there is no God like unto Him. We need to always remember who we are addressing in our worship.
Our soul is the part of us that is associated with who we are. Our thoughts, our minds, our inner being. We need to engage our minds in worship as well. This could be through singing a theologically rich song, or it could be through the preaching of the word. We should allow God’s word to change our lives by letting the Word change our minds. Romans 12:2 says:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
We are to daily renew our minds in the Word of God. We actively engage our minds in worship. We should not approach a worship service with our minds in "autopilot".
And finally, our might. In all we do physically, we should worship God. Our everyday lives must show and demonstrate the “worth” of God. Worship is even in the everyday life we live.
Colossians 3:23 has this to say:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord,
and not unto men.
We are admonished in I Corinthians 10:31 this way:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God.
When we do all to God's glory, we are showing the worth of God to those sound us. On the job as we work each day those who know we a Christians are watching us. If we show them that what we are doing is for God, and not for men, they see the gospel in the way we work. Even if no one sees us, God does and as we do our work, we can strive to do it for Him, knowing that even that is an act of worship. Not just at a work place, though. With all our might would be in our services. We should not come to church with a thought about when it will end. We should not be deciding what restaurant to eat at while listening to the preaching. We should not allow our selves to be distracted form the focus of why we have gathered in the first place. With all our might focus on God and His worthiness.
As we worship together, we must do so with all our heart, soul, and might. Are you?
I will praise thee, O Lord my God with all
my heart: and will glorify thy name forevermore.
There is a condition on this praising though as David reveals in Psalm 86:11:
Teach me thy way, O LORD; I will walk in
thy truth: unite my heart to fear thy name.
David says I will worship with all my heart, but also teach me your ways that I can walk in them. If we are going to worship God with all our hearts, we must have His truth in us and be following it. We cannot worship with our whole heart if it is set on our way. We cannot worship with our whole heart if God does not have our whole heart. We like to keep portions back for ourselves many times, but that is not what whole heart worship looks like. Whole heart worship is giving everything to God and walking in His ways. When we unite our hearts to fear God, we have undivided reverence for who He is. We must always worship God in view of who He is. He is the High and Holy One described to us in Isaiah 6. He is above all, and there is no God like unto Him. We need to always remember who we are addressing in our worship.
Our soul is the part of us that is associated with who we are. Our thoughts, our minds, our inner being. We need to engage our minds in worship as well. This could be through singing a theologically rich song, or it could be through the preaching of the word. We should allow God’s word to change our lives by letting the Word change our minds. Romans 12:2 says:
And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that
good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God.
We are to daily renew our minds in the Word of God. We actively engage our minds in worship. We should not approach a worship service with our minds in "autopilot".
And finally, our might. In all we do physically, we should worship God. Our everyday lives must show and demonstrate the “worth” of God. Worship is even in the everyday life we live.
Colossians 3:23 has this to say:
And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as unto the Lord,
and not unto men.
We are admonished in I Corinthians 10:31 this way:
Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do,
do all to the glory of God.
When we do all to God's glory, we are showing the worth of God to those sound us. On the job as we work each day those who know we a Christians are watching us. If we show them that what we are doing is for God, and not for men, they see the gospel in the way we work. Even if no one sees us, God does and as we do our work, we can strive to do it for Him, knowing that even that is an act of worship. Not just at a work place, though. With all our might would be in our services. We should not come to church with a thought about when it will end. We should not be deciding what restaurant to eat at while listening to the preaching. We should not allow our selves to be distracted form the focus of why we have gathered in the first place. With all our might focus on God and His worthiness.
As we worship together, we must do so with all our heart, soul, and might. Are you?
