I’ve been getting back to basics recently and have been reminded of some concepts that I might have lost sight of a little in the routine of things.
One of the things I’ve been reminded of is the idea of worship being a lifestyle. We use the terms worship and praise a lot, usually when we’re referring to the songs that we’re singing before the preacher comes on in a church service. Praise = fast song. Worship = slow song. It’s convenient to use these definitions when we’re talking about the songs but it’s easy to get used to the terminology and lose sight of what worship really is.
Worship, when it comes down to it, is giving glory to God. True worship then, is not just singing or verbalising our worship. True worship is doing our utmost to ensure that what we do in our lives will bring glory to God. Verbal worship is only a small slice of the layer cake that is true worship.
God is looking for people who will worship Him in spirit and in truth. I don’t think I would qualify for that if I was worshiping God with a song in church and then going home and doing/watching something that wouldn’t bring God glory. (This is making me think, even as I write this, about TV shows, movies, conversations, etc – makes you wonder, doesn’t it! ) I’m not going to present you with a list of things you shouldn’t do; that’s a matter of conscience, and of what God is saying to you. Maybe this is one reason why Paul said in 1 Thess 5:18 ‘In everything give thanks’, because if you can’t give thanks and worship God while you’re doing what you’re doing, perhaps you shouldn’t be doing it?!
It’s our heart that’s at the core of this. The heart is the centre of motivation for our words and our actions. We live in a world full of influences, some are subtle little nudges, and some are thrown in our face. Our heart is so precious and so vital to our well-being that we have to set a careful guard on it. Guard your heart with vigilance, because everything you do flows from it (Prov 4:23).
We can guard our heart by setting up good habits in our lives. Our eyes and our ears are gates to our heart and we need to filter what goes in. Our mind can influence our heart, which is why we need to renew our minds with God’s word. Our own words can influence our heart, so we need to be careful what we say. All this sounds like we might need to lock ourselves away and only listen to the sound of our own voice reading the Bible but that would render us pretty useless in the long-run! We can’t show the people around us how awesome God is if we’re locking ourselves away.
The key is to walk this earth with the awareness of God’s presence in us. We know that He is omnipresent; let’s remind ourselves that He lives in us, and whatever we do, let’s do it for the glory of God! (1 Cor 10:31)
Janna Mercedes 