Worship: More than Empty Words

When did worship become synonymous with singing on Sunday mornings? When did it become narrowed down to this one, very specific action that is often done in such a way that it isn’t worship at all? What I see is a complete misunderstanding of what true worship is. Worship is a response to that which God has done, and really a response to who God is-His very being and nature is worthy of praise. This worship, then, is being molded and shoved into a box when we think of it only as singing on Sunday mornings. One’s daily life reveals their worship; whether or not it is worship of God is the question. In regards to song as a mode of worship-it truly is all about the heart. You can close your eyes and lift your arms as high as you can, but if you’re doing it to somehow “prove” that you are worshipping-you have lost the true meaning of worship, and it has become a futile action. You can have the most beautiful voice, but if your singing transitions from a genuine admiration of God to a talent show-again you have lost the true meaning of worship, and it has become a futile action. Worship is not you on a stage proving your love for God; maybe it’s you watching a sunset and feeling your heart fill with gratitude and wonder towards God. Worship should not be not another item on your to-do list for Sunday mornings; it should be giving God the praise He deserves-which is more than thirty minutes of singing, or countless hours of community service; yes, what He deserves is even greater than our entire lives devoted to Him (which is still imperfect, since we fail continually). No, you’ll never be able to repay God-but why wouldn’t you want to give Him all you have? Praising God through song is a great and commanded thing, but it’s so essy to turn the focus onto us. The same goes for worshipping God through our lives; when you do a good deed, you have that urge to make it known that you did that. That is not worship of God, that is worship of self. Only when we learn to worship God with our lives will we feel alive, because only then are we doing exactly what we were created to do.