Gentle music
in the back ground, quiet prayer, still mind, a long row of hard wooden pews
filled with whispering voices,
To the
contrast of music lifting your soul into a joyful song, hands raised to heaven,
words roll off your tongue as if they are seeping straight from your heart.
One of these
might be the first thing that pops into your head when you think of worship. These
kinds of worship aren’t wrong there just a different preference of how you
worship God. But worship isn’t just an action you do or a feeling you have
every Sunday morning when you prepare to listen to the preacher. Worship isn’t
just a verb you do every Sunday morning but a way of life.
Here I give you seven ways of living out
worship.
·
Give
your life over to him.
“Those who try to keep their lives
will lose them and those who give up their life will keep it.”
Luke 17:33
This is the first step to worship. If you don’t give him your
life what makes you think you can truly worship Him? He must have your whole
life or the “worshiping” you do doesn’t mean a thing. To truly worship Him
means to worship with your whole heart, soul, mind and strength.
·
Be
Unselfish and Humble.
“In your life you must think and act like Christ Jesus. Christ himself
was like God in everything.
But he did not think that being equal
with God was something to be used for his own benefit. But he gave up his place
with God and made himself nothing.”
Philippians
2:5-7
Humble in all
your ways even in worship with others around. Don’t be haughty in your
countenance always thinking better of yourself than of others. True humbleness
of heart will get you farther than selfish pride. Don’t read this and think, “Oh,
humbleness of heart” and act humble but think prideful. God sees the heart as
man sees the body. To live true to form
you must humble yourself in the sight of God, leaving your old life to follow
the ways of Him.
·
Serve
like Jesus did.
“’Whoever wants to become first among
you must serve the rest of you like a slave. In the same way, the Son of Man
did not come to be served. He came to serve others and to give his life as a
ransom for many people.”
Mathew
20:27-28
A servant is
the least of a house, the worst position. What could be worse than a slave?
Maybe a garbage man, actually I think I’d rather be a garbage man. But even
though it is the worst of the worst, God still tells us to humble ourselves
enough to become one, to serve like he did and does. Just like Jesus washed the
dirty dusty feet of the disciples, we are to “wash the feet” of our fellow
brethren. We are to do the dirty work and not complain, to work as hard as
possible even for the littlest payment. In fact we are to work even if we
ourselves aren’t the one getting the benefit. This, in truth, is worshipping
and honoring God by serving others for His name sake. When we have a good
attitude we are giving him the glory but when we have a bad attitude people
begin to wonder if we even care. Giving God a good testimony is worshipping his
name. Letting people realize your love for him is not just at the surface but
has deep roots in your heart.
·
Love
as He loves
“’This is my commandment that you love one another as I have loved you.
The greatest love a person can show is
to die for his friend. “
John 15:12-13
To love those
who hurt you, to love those who have persecuted you. Love is a great word not
meant to be tarnished like the world has done to it. In the worlds eyes love is
all that gushy love that happens between a boy and a girl. Not true, the love
that the world has depicted is a love that gives once and fades like the days.
But the love that God has depicted is more than just a onetime thing. It’s a
self-sacrificing love, life devoting love. It never ends and never has limits.
This is the kind of love God wants you to show others, even your enemies.
· Be a living sacrifice
“Since God has shown us great mercy, I
beg you to offer your lives as a living sacrifice to him. Your offering must be
only for God and pleasing to him, which is the spiritual way for you to
worship.”
Romans 12:1
Sacrifice,
doesn’t mean to go put your life out on the line waiting for death. That’s not
the only kind of sacrifice God has depicted here. Yes, if the time comes that
God has chosen you to place your life in the hands of death, than do it without
complaint praising and worshipping God the whole way. But there’s another kind
of sacrifice, a living sacrifice. Sacrificing your favorite things what you watch,
read, listen to, do, and even friends you have. These may seem “little”, but in
the long run those things would have feed the “bad dog” in you, but since you
sacrificed those things to do better things, worth honor and glory, you feed
the “good dog” in you. It’s the one you feed the most that will survive. What
you feed your brain is what your personality becomes. The real question is, is
your personality a bad or good testimony? You can’t truly worship if your heart
isn’t fully God’s.
·
Carry
a Cross, Just like Jesus.
“’Whoever is not willing to carry his
cross and follow me cannot be my follower.”
Luke 14:27
Carry the cross does not mean we literally have to carry a wooden cross
everywhere. It just means we have to carry our spiritual cross. The burdens and
suffering, they’re all in the package no matter what, but because of Jesus we
don’t have to carry it alone. He will always be by our side to help us when we
are weak and at our end. In truth that’s when we feel him the most. At the end
of our road and the cross is bearing down as if to crush us if we just take one
misstep, that’s when Jesus is the closest to us because he is the only one who
knows what it’s like, but He had to bare his cross alone.· Keep your eyes on Him.
“Let us look only to Jesus, the One
who began our Faith and who makes it perfect. He suffered death on the cross.
But he accepted the shame as if it were nothing because of the joy that God put
before him. And now he is sitting at the right side of God’s throne.”
Hebrews 12:2
The pain he
must have endured seems more than a grown man could endure, the pikes and
whips, torture that was put upon him. It sounds horrible but to actually endure
it seems an overpowering horror. Why would he do such a thing when so many
people rejected and reject him still? He knew that, he had to have, I’m sure Satan
used that many times on that horrible day. But it was the other thoughts that
probably kept him going. Even when the whole world indeed was against him he
kept going. Why you ask? Let me tell you the other thoughts he had that day. As
he was beaten and literally broken the only thoughts he had were of you. He
knew all this was worth it because you would come to be his through this. Like
a man has to pay for his fiancés ring, Jesus also had to pay for our “engagement”
to him. He knew some would reject, but just the knowledge that you and I would
accept him made him have the motivation of going through with all this. And now
that we know what he has gone through, don’t you think he deserves for us to
live for him? Doesn’t he deserve to have your whole life, your praise, honor, and
worship?
Worship isn’t just a verb, but is a life
style. In order to truly worship Him, you must give him your life, or your
worship truly doesn’t mean a thing. Giving Him your life isn’t a onetime thing
either it’s a lifelong commitment you have to work at. Your words, your
actions, choices you make, it all must be sent to the throne of God. If it isn’t
honoring him why would you do it? This may seem like a daunting, up tight, strict
task but in truth doesn’t God deserve it, isn’t He worth living for?
Considering
Our outcome
whether you do or don’t. I think it’s worth Living out Worship.
