Worship Unto God

Worship, an occasion I look forward to,

To give my praise and honor to you,

For you have blessed me all my life,

Strengthening my faith in times of strife.

I burn my knees night after night,

With hope that I may live my life right

So I could finally reach that golden place

To praise & worship My God face to face.

My eyes fill with tears of joy from time to time

As the clock strikes six and begins to chime

For my heart knows that the hour is here

To talk to my God in the form of Prayer

It’s hard not to act in such a joyful way

When I sing and praise God’s name everyday

Hearing his name being uttered by any lip

Just reminds me of my soon heaven-bound trip

To God I give praise, worship, glory & honor

As I surrender my life to Him each and every hour

Thanksgiving I know is just a simple token

For the Gift of Christ, whose flesh on Calvary was broken

Written By: C.N.A.F

I have learned to appreciate the fact that similar to love, worship is also a principle, a practical concept that must be unconditionally practiced. As human beings we tend (if not purposefully disciplined) to be driven mainly by emotion, subsequently we allow rationalization and reason to follow. As a result we tend to worship God on the condition that we “feel” good or that we are in a “good mood”. This honestly is so wrong and it’s a dishonor and disrespect to God.

The God that presented mankind with Salvation through the sacrifice of His Son deserves more than the possibility of worship based on the weather (emotional) forecast of His people – “A rough day, with a chance of a few outbursts”, “a sunny day, clear skies with no annoyances”. God should not have to wait upon what happens in our lives to be the determining factor of whether He will be worshipped or not. God has done so much for us since the beginning of time.

1 Chronicles 16:9
Sing to him, sing praise to him; tell of all his wonderful acts.

Why Worship God?

1. Because of WHO He is.

2. Because of WHAT He has done.

The above reveals two basic reasons why God should be worshipped. What you should realize is that in none of the reasons is it based upon man; God is the Subject of the formula here. It’s all about God, nothing about man, and the following texts reveal such:

Revelation 14:7
He said in a loud voice, "Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come. Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea and the springs of water."

(God should be worshipped simply because He is our CREATOR. This alone is sufficient reason.)

Psalm 99:5
Exalt the LORD our God and worship at his footstool; he is holy

Revelation 15:4
Who will not fear you, O Lord, and bring glory to your name? For you alone are holy. All nations will come and worship before you, for your righteous acts have been revealed."

(God should be worshipped because He is Holy and Righteous. God’s very character requires worship because of its purity and righteousness. God naturally DESERVES worship. Does God receive from you the Worship that He deserves?)

2 Kings 17:36
But the LORD, who brought you up out of Egypt with mighty power and outstretched arm, is the one you must worship. To him you shall bow down and to him offer sacrifices.

Isaiah 44:23
Sing for joy, O heavens, for the LORD has done this; shout aloud, O earth beneath. Burst into song, you mountains, you forests and all your trees, for the LORD has redeemed Jacob, he displays his glory in Israel.

John 3:16

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son so that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

(The above texts provide shows us what God has DONE in the lives of man that warrants worship. We see that He provided deliverance to the children of Israel when they were held captive in Egypt. Also in the book Isaiah we see the word Redemption being used and for this we need to worship God. The last text reveals the manifestation of God’s redemptive power in the form of His only begotten Son. Jesus was the unspotted and unblemished lamb that took the sins of all mankind, so thatif we desire (through choosing Jesus) we could live right and inherit a place in the Kingdom of Heaven based upon the merit of Jesus’ spilt blood.

The million dollar question that is always asked is, How are we to worship God? Well the bible spells it out clearly in Romans:

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as aliving sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. –Romans 12:1 (NIV)

In that text we see the word Living Sacrifice, jumping out at us, and to further explain the meaning of it let us read Galatians 2:20: I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.

- I am Crucified with Christ – Christ was crucified for our sins. Thus our sins lay on the cross. Therefore by saying you and I are crucified, it is our sinful self that is suppose to lie on the cross. More important is that the text highlights that our leader went before us, hence the words “crucified with Christ.”

- Nevertheless I live – And it is this phrase that epitomizes “living sacrifice”. We die (symbolically we turn away from our old sinful nature) YET we live.

- Yet not I, but Christ liveth in me:This is the phrase that indicates the transformationphase. We must die to sin, Yes. We must still live on this physical earth till Christ’s Second Advent, YES. But how do we continue to live on a sinful world in the same body that once knew sin? The text states that it is not us that must now live, but Christ liveth within us. And that is how God has written His law into our hearts and in our minds (Hebrews 10:16)

And that is how we continue living in this sinful place after having given our life to Christ through baptism of the water and of the spirit. Christ must live in us, and by doing so we become the living sacrifice that we are admonished, in the Word of God, to become. And we know that as a living sacrifice we are not conformed to this world, but we prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect will of God. (Romans 12:2)

This my brothers and sisters is TRUE worship. We worship God because HE is worthy and we do so by living sinless lives through the power of Jesus Christ!!

Now apart from sacrificing the old man and embracing a new life and a new walk, with Jesus, there are other things we are expected to sacrifice apart from that which is bad. There are things we need to do to remain connected to Christ, also there are things that God asks us to do for Him as His followers.

To maintain a close connection and grow in the Lord the bible provides several points:

- Daniel 6:10 : Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.

- 2 Timothy 2:15: Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.

- Luke 1: 57, 76 & 80: ⁵⁷Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. ⁷⁶And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways; ⁸⁰ And the child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his shewing unto Israel.

What those three texts underline is that to develop a close relationship with God we need to pray, engage in a diligent study of God’s word, and lastly spend time in humble meditation with God and God alone. In order to do these things we need to dedicate and devote adequate time to each of these. We only have twenty-four hours in a day and we have countless activities to engage in, thus to set apart time would involve a sacrifice, a NECESSARY sacrifice.