Isaiah 43:21, Mark 12:30

Paul Critchley

I want to look at our worship lifestyle and its challenges to you and I as we endeavour to walk out what we believe and honour the one we believe in.

There have been may definitions of worship but a couple that I like are these ones. Firstly, that it is my response of all that I am; my mind, emotions, will and my body - to all that God is and to all He says and does. It is my freewill act of giving my love to God.

Another more commonly shared definition is this one: That it (worship) is the response of the human spirit to a manifestation/revelation or understanding of the glory of God." The word "worship" comes from an old English word meaning "worthship". In other words, to worship God is to express His worth.

When we worship, it is not to give worship the honour or focus. We can get so caught up in stlyes, expressions, liturgy, no lturgy, music teams or pipe organs when actually the point is that our worship shouldn't zoom in on any of those factors. Our Christian worship is to honour God!

Worship is not music or the songs we sing, no matter how much feeling we put in them. It is not to be flippant or superficial. It is not dependant on the body posture we make or facial expression we pull. Just like the old adage, 'because we have a MacDonalds sign on the bus doesn't mean we sell them'! - just because we do some bodily action doesn't always mean we are worshipping.

God has created you and I for relationship and for worship. Isaiah 43:21 says that we are 'the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.'

In other words we can't separate our worship from our fellowship and friendship with God. It was His plan and desire that we worship Him and that we would be drawn to Him.

So when we are living busy 21st Century lives, why should we make walking out our worship a priority? Well, God obviously saw it as a priority for His people because He mentions it so many times in the Bible. In the book of Genesis we see how Adam fell from grace and relationship when he failed to worship God and as we get all the way to the back of the book, in Revelation, all of history culminates in the never ending worship service in the presence of our Jesus. I know that sometimes, we've felt like we have been in a never-ending worship service; believe me, you won't be wishing for this one to end!!

Jesus gave us an amazing model of how we should live and walk out our worship. There's no doubt of it's priority for Him. He called it the greatest commandment - Mark 12:30 "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This wasn't merely knowing about God, acknowledging Him; worshipping only with our understanding or just from the soulful emotions. It involves our total being, body, soul and spirit; all that we are and all that He made us to be.

Jesus also taught us to worship first before we asked for anything when he modelled prayer for us. Here's how it reads in Luke 11:2 "And He said to them, when you pray, say, Our Father, who is in heaven, hallowed (worshipped) be Your name..." We can't just come to God when we want something. We must come firstly in relationship, to praise and worship God for who He is, we must get to know Him; get to know His nature, His desires, His plans, His heart for us. The more we know God the more we will want to worship Him and the deeper our worship will take us.

Like any relationship, the way we live it out needs time and communication between both parties. We can't expect to build a deep relationship with God if we are not prepared to find the time to meet with Him. Our meeting has to bcome an integral part of our living.

The Bible says this in John 4:21-24: "But the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth: for the Father seeks such to worship Him. God is Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth."

Jesus was saying that 'worship must be in line with God's nature', His nature is Spiritual. In other words, God isn't an object, something just to be looked at and admired or polished when visitors come around for tea. We are not worshipping Him like an idol. Worshipping in spirit is from my person to God's person and it involves my intellect, emotions and my will.

So what should some of the aspects of our lives look like?