What is Worship?
Worship. How many of us have used that term without really knowing what it means? Is it singing songs to God? Is it what I do Sunday mornings at church? Can I do it with my family during the week or on my own in quiet moments? What does it mean to worship?
At a basic level, the word worship comes from the idea of ascribing worth to something or someone. The value that I place on any particular thing in my life shows the level of worth it has to me. Worshiping someone (or something) is a reflection of the value that you have given to that object in your life. When we worship God, we are ascribing worth to him, telling him that he is valuable to us.
So here is the reality about how God has made us: humans are created to worship. God has designed us in such a way that our hearts and our souls are ALWAYS worshiping. There is no ON/Off switch to this worship thing. It is always ON. We are always ascribing worth to things and people in our lives. So if I am always worshiping, the all-important question I have to ask myself is what is the object of my worship? What is it in my life that I place the most value towards?
Here are a couple of question that are helpful to think through when determining what you value most in your life.
What makes you the most angry?
What do you spend the majority of your free time thinking about?
What is your life organized around (work, kids, TV Shows, sports)?
What brings you the most happiness?
What do you look to for your security?
From where do you get your own sense of value or worth?
All of these questions help us evaluate what we value most. What your heart treasures most, you will find yourself worshiping.
God created us to be creatures of worship. He wants to be the center of our lives and the object of our worship. We have the opportunity to show God value and worth in our lives, to worship him, every minute of every day. The Apostle Paul offers a heartfelt encouragement to the church in Rome to worship God with their entire lives.
I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. (Romans 12:1).
Paul offers us an insightful picture. My body is to be presented to God as my worship. That means that everything I do is meant to be worship, meant to be pleasing to God. Everything that I do with my hands, everything I say with my mouth, everything I dwell on in my head, every desire that I kindle in my heart—all of it is meant to be worship toward my creator. It’s overwhelming when I really stop and think about it and the implications for my life. Every moment of my day is worship. Every conversation I have is worship. Every time I interact with my boss, my children, my spouse, other drivers on the Baltimore-Washington Parkway, or even that neighbor who really gets on my nerves, I have a chance to honor God, to worship God.
Singing praise and worship songs at church or even on the radio in the car are certainly acts of worship. But hopefully, my worship of God will extend far beyond the 75 minutes I spend in the church building on Sunday or some songs that I sing along to in the car while I’m driving.
Hopefully, as I set my gaze upon the Lord each morning, and open my heart to the Spirit’s leading in each moment, my heart will begin to treasure God more and more. As I preach the amazing grace of the Gospel of Jesus to myself everyday, and I consider how much Jesus loves me, I will treasure him more and more.
Because what I treasure, I will worship.