[I’m working on the daily devotional pieces for the arts camp and came across this article I share, lightly edited. This may be information you’ve read repeatedly or it may be new to you, but I invite you to read it with an open heart. What might God be saying to you about your personal worship? ]
If you were to ask 10 people, “What is worship?” most of them would probably say something about singing in church. But the reality is that worship is much more than just music. If we want to honor God, we need to understand the nature of true worship.
“But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” (John 4:23 NKJV)
God is seeking true worshipers who will bring Him glory….
The word “worship” comes from “worth ship”. To worship something is to prize it above everything else. To honor it as the thing of highest importance and to act accordingly. Anything can be worshiped. If a guy absolutely loves his car, invests thousands of dollars in it, and spends hours working on it, you could say that he worships his car. If a woman spends all her time at work to the exclusion of everything else, you could say that she worships her career.
Worship is when we give our deepest affections and highest praise to something. True worship of God is when we love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. It’s when we prize God above everything else and put Him first in our hearts.
“The Lord our God, the Lord is one! You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength.” (Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NKJV)
Contrast this to what Jesus says:
“These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.” (Matthew 15:8-9 NKJV)
This makes it clear that worship is, first and foremost, about the heart. The Pharisees did and said things that looked and sounded like worship, but they didn’t truly love God from the heart. Their actions and words didn’t please God because they weren’t motivated by love. This is why Jesus called them “whitewashed tombs”. They looked good on the outside but were dead on the inside.
If we want to worship in a way that pleases the Lord, we need to start with our hearts. If we don’t love God from the heart, then nothing else matters. *
Jehovah,
You are worthy of all our worship, no matter the style, content or form. There is nothing else in the physical or spiritual world that can take the place of you, High and Holy One. Help us to love you with all we are and to worship you in Spirit and in Truth. Help us to not just speak or sing words of worship, but to truly live the fullness of our lives in worship to you, we ask in Jesus’s name, AMEN.
“You shall have no other gods before me.” (Exodus 20:3 NIV)
*https://www.lwf.org/gods-desires-for-you-a-biblical-guide/what-is-worship-according-to-the-bible