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You must love the Lord your God with your whole mind, your whole being, and all your strength.
Deuteronomy 6:5
For many professing believers, the mention of worship brings forth mental images of raising our hands and singing praises to the King. While it certainly includes that, I contend that this is one of the most limited and narrow views we could adopt with regards to the subject.
The dictionary defines this word in both a noun and verb format:
noun; the feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a deity.
verb; show reverence and adoration for (a deity); honor with religious rites.
This at least goes a bit beyond the view of praise as worship, but I feel it is still far too limited in scope. There are countless passages of scripture that could be cited in order to better grapple with the issue and ascertain the meaning, but there is one I want to focus on as the most succinct biblical definition I know of:
Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice—alive, holy, and pleasing to God—which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God—what is good and well-pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:1 – 2
As a point of clarification, the term “reasonable service” is rendered differently in other translations:
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 [ESV]
Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.
Romans 12:1 [NIV]
I exhort you, therefore, brothers, in view of God’s mercies, to offer yourselves as a sacrifice, living and set apart for God. This will please him; it is the logical “Temple worship” for you.
Romans 12:1 [CJB]
The implications of this are far reaching and bear out some thought and consideration. First, we have to come to an understanding of what it means to be …
A Living Sacrifice
Therefore, be imitators of God as dearly loved children and live in love, just as Christ also loved us and gave himself for us, a sacrificial and fragrant offering to God.
Ephesians 5:1 – 2
So true to form and in the nature of earnest disciples, let’s ask the question; what does it mean to be a living sacrifice?
In it’s simplest terms, I believe that being a living sacrifice is obeying God and observing His Torah. Consider the following verses:
“If you love me, you will obey my commandments…”
John 14:15
For this is the love of God: that we keep his commandments. And his commandments do not weigh us down, because everyone who has been fathered by God conquers the world.
1 John 5:2 – 3
I admonish you to carefully consider these passages in light of this next:
“Does the Lord take pleasure in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as he does in obedience? Certainly, obedience is better than sacrifice; paying attention is better than the fat of rams.”
1 Samuel 15:22
Now you may be thinking to yourself that while this is all well and good, it does not clarify what it means to be a living sacrifice… but it actually does;
For those who live according to the flesh have their outlook shaped by the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit have their outlook shaped by the things of the Spirit. For the outlook of the flesh is death, but the outlook of the Spirit is life and peace, because the outlook of the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to the law of God, nor is it able to do so.
Romans 8:5 – 7
Paul illuminates the issue – in and of ourselves we are not only unable to keep the commandments, we are hostile to them. Conversely, if we are His, we have been given the Ruach Ha Kodesh – the Holy Spirit – which empowers and enables us to walk in obedience and grows us in preference for what is right and true and good in His sight, rather than what seems right to us.
The thing is, in order to draw upon this power and actually be doers of the word rather than just hearers of it (James 1:22), we have to make the conscious choice – each and every day – to silence ourselves and subject our will to His.
Then Jesus said to his disciples, “If anyone wants to become my follower, he must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me.
Matthew 16:24
When we deny ourselves and make a conscious decision to prefer the ways of God, we put our foot on the “old man” and keep him in his rightful place ~ the grave.
We know that our old man was crucified with him so that the body of sin would no longer dominate us, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin.
Romans 6:6
I see this rather plainly and if this isn’t being a living sacrifice, I don’t know what is. (Spoiler: it is.)
What Is Worship?
So we return to the original question – if our prior definitions of worship were to limited and narrow, what then is worship?
Everything…
Everything you say…
Everything you think…
Everything you do is an act of worship.
Everything.
I realize we don’t tend to think of things in these terms, but the truth is, it isn’t our thoughts on the issue that matter – only God’s do. When you look it at worship through this proper lens, you begin to see that you are always worshiping. The question is, who or what are you worshiping?
There’s certainly no shortage of subjects, issues and activities vying for our attention at any given moment. Maybe it’s a game, maybe it’s music, or fashion or money, a career, sex, you name it. Whatever it is that dominates your thoughts, that is what you worship – no if’s and’s or but’s about it.
You have a say in the matter; you decide what will dominate your thoughts and, like it or not, your thoughts translate into actions – for as a man thinks, so is he (Proverbs 23:7). Your thoughts will predicate your actions and make no mistake, what you think about most is what you apply the most effort toward… that is your God.
If you have no desire to worship the Lord, then choose today whom you will worship, whether it be the gods whom your ancestors worshiped beyond the Euphrates, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living. But I and my family will worship the Lord.”
Joshua 24:14 – 15
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You