Is worship a choice?
On Sunday we introduced the song, "I Choose to Worship" (by Rend Collective) to our congregation.
In thinking about how to teach the song, I asked myself what does worship mean, and why do we choose to worship?
I shared that when I first heard the song, I was inspired to pray. I shared that soon after, I asked the Lord for the opportunity to share it with the congregation. But I did not share some of the significance behind some of the song's lines.
When everyone is standing, and the rest of the worship team is waiting to sing again, I push things along.
So, we announced that people can read the handouts on their own. Here is what I forgot to mention.
In the chorus, we sing:
In the valley, you are worthy...
We are not saying, In the valley, you are with me--We are saying in our valley, at our lowest, God is still highest, and worthy of praise.
Standing on mountains to drifting through deserts and wilderness, to sinking into valleys throughout out our lives is all part of our Christian walk.
God never changes. He stays the same, and that he is always in the High place, most worthy of our worship, and in control of our lives.
In the second verse:
I build my altar right here and now,
in the midst of the darkest night it won't burn out...
We don't need to be in a building to "do" church. When we have the Holy Spirit, we can bow down and worship God anywhere, any place, any time.
Paul Tripp said that prayer is an act of worship. A. W. Tozer claimed any man or woman on this earth who gets bored or turned off by worship is not ready for heaven. Billy Graham said that the highest form of worship is the act of unselfish Christian service. John Piper said we are transformed by worship.
But just what is worship?
It's music. (It's more than music!)
It's praise. (It's more than praise!)
It's prayer. (It's more than prayer!)
It's a lifestyle.( It's more than a lifestyle!) It's love, adoration, faith... (It's more than love, adoration, faith...!) It's the cry of our hearts. It's a privilege. It is answering our Creator's call. It's a crying out to Him. It's a supernatural connection. It's NOT natural for us.
I'm getting warmer.
Like so many things that are God-ordained, it is not meant for us to understand, but to only feel a desire for.
Were we created to worship?
The apostle Paul says we make our bodies a living sacrifice (Rom. 12:1) and Jesus said in John 4:24, we should worship in Spirit and in Truth (God is spirit).
Worship is our active response to God and His love. It's our humble obedience to Him.
But, it's also something we have to do (and our sin nature fights us against .)
I love this line: Man is unable to exist without something to revere. When God created us, He did so with a God-shaped hole in our hearts that we will long to fill. Some of us will fill that hole with addictions, or hobbies, or fitness, or our job, or a ministry. Others will fill it with a worship of a deity or self, or God. To hear the song, and listen to the band discuss their inspiration for writing it, watch this video:
References:
https://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/ask-roger/is-the-covid-19-vaccine-the-mark-of-the-beast.html
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