Living Worship

This past weekend Patrick and I went to the membership class for Sojourn Church.  One of the sessions was focused on the body of Christ as worshippers.  A few weeks ago we'd heard a sermon based on Psalm 150, which is all about worshiping God, and it really made me think about what it means to worship on a daily basis.  These days when someone says "worship" most of us automatically think about Sunday morning services and praise songs.  But certainly God doesn't just want our worship for a two-hour time slot once a week.  I think he desires our full worship all day every day.

During our membership class we talked about how worship is a continuous action.  Men and women are innately programed to worship something whether it's God or something man-based.  This can be a really convicting statement.  This means that throughout my day I'm continually worshipping or giving praise to something, and if that something isn't God then I've got some priorities to straighten out!  Harold Best sums it up well saying, "We were created to continuously adore.  We were created to do this as naturally as to breathe in and out, to honor, to submit, to depend on, to fellowship with our Maker."

One thing Jeremy (one of the Sojourn pastors) said a few Sundays ago was that we live in line with what we have and what we believe.  Then he posed this question: Do you live like you have God?  This is a huge question that deserves some thought.  Is my everyday life an expression of the incredible fact that the Holy Spirit resides within me?  Are the words coming out of my mouth and the thoughts I think all reflective of the grace God pours out on me?  Another question I've wrestled with is where my mind and my heart go when they have nowhere else to go, that is, in the occasional quiet moments of life, what do I think about?  Am I thinking about and praising God?  Or am I obsessing over and worrying about eternally trivial things?  Sadly, the latter describes me more often than not.

Thankfully there is grace in all things, and because of that grace Christ is able to transform me and help me renew my mind daily.  Not to say it isn't a constant struggle, but there is hope.  Jeremy reminded us that worship isn't necessarily about doing something and putting another checkmark in the box.  Christians don't have something to do, we have something to celebrate!  Worship shouldn't be drudgery; it should be a natural outpouring of my love of Jesus and my thankfulness for what he has done (and is doing) in my life.

I often wonder what everyday worship looks like; what does it mean to live a life of worship?  A lot of it means recognizing God's overwhelming greatness and glory among a world full of things undeserving of our worship.  When we glorify anything other than God, whether it's a sports team, movie star, or political ideology, we are wasting our breath.  God alone is worthy of our praise, and He will not share the spotlight with anything else.

I've always loved 1 Corinthians 10:31 which says, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  It's clear here that we can live a life of worship no matter where we are or what we are doing.  When we live with words of praise to God on our lips, we glorify Him.  We worship by expressing thanks to God for blessings and even difficulties we face.  Everyday I am challenged to live out daily life in a way that reflects an attitude of worship and thankfulness to God.