He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” – Luke 10:27
What was your experience like trying to worship in all your activities? Did you have to think hard about what you had to do or was it natural? I believe an excerpt from an Our Daily Bread article written by Dave Branon does an excellent job of addressing this topic:
It’s one thing to worship and praise God at church; it’s quite another to move out into the real world and worship Him through daily obedience.
Do we confine our worship to church? Or do we continue to worship Him by obeying Him in our daily life, looking for opportunities to serve?
In 1 Samuel 15 we see that Saul was asked by the Lord to do a task; but when we review what he did (vv.20-21), we discover that he used worship (sacrifice) as an excuse for his failure to obey God. God’s response was, “To obey is better than sacrifice” (v.22).
It’s good to be involved in worship at church. But let’s also ask God to show us ways to continue to give Him the praise He deserves through our obedience.
Lord, I want my worship of You to extend beyond the walls of my church. Help me to listen to
Your prompting and to serve others wherever I can—no matter what day it is.
Our worship should not be confined to times and places; it should be the spirit of our lives.”
We can conclude that if we are obedient to God in our daily lives worship is natural.
There is another important conclusion I believe we should consider. 1 John 5:3 tells us: “In fact, this is love for God: to keep his commands.”
So, we have an equation that looks like this: Love=Obedience=Worship. In the end, worship is about Love. So, as we wrap-up our focus this week on Worship, remember God demonstrated his love for us by giving His best. It isn’t too much for us to love him with all our mind, soul and strength.
Please share your thoughts by posting your comments.
March 29, 2014 at 9:01 pm
I am very happy for the reminder that worship is not limited to space or time. It is my attitude to worship that is important. I have come to the realization that I can worship God through the constructive use of the knowledge and skills I have been blessed with. I can also worship my God in the relationships, family and work, that I am a part of.
I recently had the joy and privilege to spend one week with my grandson Dominic, this experience enlarged my gratitude towards God for his unending gifts he bestows upon everyone of us. I thank God for him everyday and the opportunity to invest in future generations.
In closing, I am convinced that we can all worship God through intentional service to others.
March 30, 2014 at 1:14 pm
I Love my LORD and yet …
I find Obedience to be a struggle in certain areas.
Being strong willed … I tend to rationalize things so that it lines up with my own desires and thoughts … even when I know it to be wrong.
By the Grace of the ALMIGHTY each time I overcome temptation my self discipline is strengthened.
When I was in my twenties I resisted becoming a Believer because I reasoned that it was impossible to be good … and therefore why bother trying … years later I come upon a prayer by King Solomon who suggested that we will always sin and therefore we must continually ask GOD’s forgiveness … this was one of a number of turning points that led me to be a Believer. The knowledge that an ordinary human being like me can being saved …
And therefore I boast in my weaknesses because I have a feeling they are not going to vanish (into thin air). Won’t I always be me?
2 Cor 12:9
But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me.
AMEN.