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I remember hearing the vows being said at the
wedding ceremony of a close friend, not long after
I had made a commitment to Christ. “With
my body, I thee worship….”. I was
very struck by the desire for total dedication
to love and obedience, a willing gift of everything
earthly within the spiritual context of marriage.
It made the words of the songs and hymns jump
into a new place of significance, reality and
meaning.
To truly understand what it means to worship
God, it is good to be reminded once again of the
foundations of our daily walk with Jesus. If we
are not willing to try to be continually vigilant,
taking each thought and action captive for Christ,
our times of singing songs and hymns of worship
and praise together becomes meaningless in the
sight of God. (Amos 5, vs.21 to 24)
It is in our very nature to worship. We are created
in the image of God. The Father, Son and Holy
Spirit are in loving, interdependent relationship
with each other. The ultimate act of worship is
sacrificial love. This is epitomised in the love
of God the Father who gave His only Son as a ransom
for many, and also in the love of the Son who
gave His life for us, in obedience to His Father,
that the world might be redeemed. (John 15 vs.
12 to 14).
It can be observed that the created world worships
God by bringing glory to Him through the beauty
of His creation. We are similarly called to acknowledge
God’s life giving creative, loving power
in our lives by worshipping our creator and heavenly
Father. This entails an obedient response to God’s
spiritual laws and the teaching of Jesus.
How do we do this? What does it mean to truly
worship God?
We live in a world that is constantly demanding
our worship. Yet it is so often a false worship.
Drive this car, wear clothes by this designer
or label, exercise in this gym, holiday in this
location, eat in this restaurant, be seen in the
latest fashionable club or bar, follow this pop
star or actor/actress, have this sort of relationship…..only
then you will find true fulfilment and acceptance,
we are told.
There is nothing wrong with any of the wonderful
pleasures, pursuits and interests of this earthly
life. Everything is God’s, provided it is
not sin. “Every good and perfect gift is
from above”, as the book of James tells
us. So therefore we acknowledge God as the source
of all good things. The problems begin when we
replace God’s primary place in our lives
with our own particular golden calf. A mistaken
notion of worship, an idol that comes between
God and us.
Romans 12, verse 1 says this; “Therefore,
I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s
mercy, to offer yours bodies as living sacrifices,
holy and pleasing to God. This is your spiritual
act of worship”.
Our singing is simply an overflow of our heart.
It is an obedient response to God for His goodness,
love, grace, kindness and the mercy He shows us.
We live our lives for God. We know that we can
never earn His love and acceptance, and therefore
it is this free gift of grace that we celebrate
when we join together to sing songs of praise,
gratitude, thankfulness, love and adoration. We
are often called to be thankful even when we don’t
feel like it, when we feel betrayed, hurt, abandoned
and discouraged. Yet these are the very times
when we can encourage each other in our meeting
together, when we can sing again of the promises
that Jesus made. We remind ourselves of the eternal
truths of the Kingdom of Heaven that Jesus came
to reveal and save us for.
When we find this life of worshipful obedience
to God difficult and almost more than we can bear,
we can call out once again to the Comforter, the
Holy Spirit who illuminates, guards and guides.
(John 16, vs. 5 to15). Where the Holy Spirit is,
there will be singing!
Worship is what we do each and every moment of
our days here on earth, in thought, word and deed.
Our singing, and ‘times of worship’
are simply the gifts of grateful hearts, from
lives dedicated to worshipping God (worth-ship,
giving Him the honour due) and serving each other
in everything we do.
In our times and places of worship we are drawing
near to God through the wonderful, powerful, intimate
gift of heavenly music, enabling us to meet with
our God, spirit to Spirit.
By Dave Clifton
Worship Leader at HTB
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