it is my JOY to worship you

Worship: It’s a touchy subject.

It’s a way of gladly reflecting back to God the radiance of his worth. It cannot be done by mere acts of duty (for example, attending church simply because you feel you HAVE to). You have to worship from your mind AND heart, with affection and passion and joy. If we only worship out of duty – it is dishonouring to God. When we worship out of desire and in joy – it honours God. For example, a man brings home flowers for his wife – with a smile on his face, he says – ‘here, these are for you. I bought them because I have to since I’m your husband.’... uhm, yeah – i  would be offended haha However if he hands the flowers to his wife and says, “these are for you, I love you and I want you to know how amazing you are to me.” – perfect! Okay, I know, it’s a cheesy analogy, but you get the point right? What are we saying to God? “I worship you because it’s my duty?” OR “I worship you because it’s my joy?”

Worship IS expected from us as Christians. Hebrews 10:25 “Let us not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing”. We are called to be a part of the ‘body of believers’, attend a church, small group etc. The quality of your private worship life does NOT exempt you from worshiping among other believers. “There’s an element of worship and Christianity that cannot be experienced in private worship or by watching worship. There are some graces and blessings that God gives only in the ‘meeting together’ with other believers” – DS Whitney.

BUT our public worship should not take away from our private worship. ‘How is it possible to worship God publicly once each week when we do not worship Him privately through-out the week? Can we expect the flames of our worship of God to burn brightly in public on the Lord’s Day when they barely flicker for Him in private on other days? Isn’t it because we do not worship well in private that our corporate worship experience often dissatisfies us?’ Bam. Private Worship is a blessing. God blesses us through it. Daily strength, guidance and encouragement is available to us. How amazing is that Jesus Christ is willing to meet with us individually for as long as we want, whenever and wherever we want? He is EAGER to meet with us, every day!

Remember though, worship cannot be forced, diagrammed or calculated. It is the response of a heart in love with God. But, it is ALSO a Discipline. We must discipline ourselves to worship so that our relationship with Christ can be healthy and strong and always growing. Worship should not be an ‘on and off’ switch, it must always flow from our hearts – for God is ALWAYS God and ALWAYS worthy of worship.

True Worship.

Don’t fake it... the act of worship without actual worship is a miserable and hypocritical experience. If worship wearies you – you aren’t really worshiping. How can we stand before the throne of God Almighty and fake our worship...? I would write more here... but I don’t really know what to say. It happens SO often – how insulting is that to our God... wow. The object of our worship is our Great, Glorious and Majestic God. When worship becomes empty – the problem IS, no doubt, with US (the subjects) and NOT with God (the object). God is worthy of ALL the worship, ALL the time. The best and most whole-hearted worship we can give Him.

Worship is so valuable. It is to be treasured and protected. It is to be biblical and passionate. It is not to be taken for granted, It is not to be taken lightly. It is not meant to be shallow and meaningless. Worship is a gift. It is an opportunity to meet with our King and grow in our relationship with Him. It is our chance to give back just a little bit.