The church has done a great disservice to reasonable interpretation of what it means to worship God by inappropriate use of words and terms. "worship" is thrown around as a term within church circles to cover a range of activities but most of the time it refers to what is done by the gathered people of God in services or gathered celebration events. We hear therefore of "divine worship" or "worship services", "place of worship", "time of worship", "worship building" to name just a few. These terms serve to add weight to the understanding that "worship" is only about particular activities that a person or persons engage in order to demonstrate religious devotion.
However, worship as we see in the biblical scriptures relates to the attitude and actions of the individual in their "offering" of self in worship of God; Romans 12:1-2 make this very clear and this teaching of Paul simply reelects the teaching of Jesus in the sermon on the mount and his interaction with Jewish authorities (Mark 12). We read today that bringing pleasure to God is called worship, because worship is multifaceted. While we connect music with worship, it is helpful to note that worship predates music. Worship is much more than music. Our reading this week from the Purpose Driven Life book will focus our attention on worship that engages the whole of life.
As I enter into a new week I am confronted by the challenge of living my live in a continuous act of worship; through mind, heart soul and strength. Living my life for Jesus is the challenge before me. Each day presents me with opportunity to Dedicate afresh all that I have and all that I do. And it is a challenge. In Rev 4 we read that the 24 elders take off their crowns and lay them before the throne of God then declare their praise of God. Today, I again take of my crown and lay it before Jesus my Lord.
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