Today's post is going to be centered on worship. I will try to include verses and favorite songs, which i find my inspiration. The discussion will be very broad and will definitely need to be discussed more in depth at a later date. Throughout today I have been doing a bit of thinking. Thinking about what, you may ask? Though there may or may not be anyone even reading this blog, I will tell anyway.
As I walk to and from my classes throughout the day I see many things on campus. I see people sitting in the student center. I also see people outside of the student center: in the benches of the courtyard, in the gazebo, under the pavilion. Some alone and others chatting away with friends. Without really meaning to I tend to observe the people as I walk (I know it sounds creepy, but I can assure you I am no creep!). Just passing by in the few seconds I see them, I notice that they all have different habits. More than likely, on any given day one will see these people doing the same things at almost the exact same time. I am not saying these people are worshipping the things that they do, but simple habits can often lead to worship whether we want to or not. By this point most of you are thinking "there is no singing or praise to God." And you are right, God may never even be mentioned in the things that a person worships.
For my first point in my discussion of worship, I think it is important to tell you that worship doesn't have to be directed toward God. Worship is simply anything that you do that shows what is most important in your life. At the end of this summer a good friend of mine put together a beach retreat and the focus of the weekend was worship. I taught a small group during this weekend and I found out many things about worship while studying for the retreat. The whole lesson-plan for the weekend came out of Louie Giglio's Book Wired For a Life of Worship. (I strongly recommend reading this) As I read through the sections that my friend had taken from the book, to point out the main points in worship, I realized I had been worshipping many things. Much to my surprise those things were not God. I had been worshipping my friends, my girlfriend, my job, my cell phone and many other things. The book teaches that worship is anything that you do that shows what is important to you. By spending all of my time with the things mentioned above, instead of worshipping God, my creator, I was worshipping everything but him. And much to my surprise i realized that everything that I put in front of God became my god. God wants to be the center of our lives, and to be the center of our lives we must worship God with everything we do. Then and only then, will he be the one we are living for. 1 Cor. 10:31 "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."
To kick off the weekend my friend made a wall with cardboard that had words written on them. The words were things that she had gotten the youth to write down at the beginning of the summer about things they were having trouble pushing God past in their life. The band played a song and as the song was played chaperones for the trip, one by one, took one piece of cardboard off of the wall. One by one the words sex, friends, school, clothes, cell phones, masturbation, boyfriends, girlfriends, sports, pornography all came off of the wall. Many of the kids started to see that the things that were before God in their lives were their own personal gods that they were worshipping. One of the ten commandments is "You shall have no other gods before me" Exodus 20:3. It is all too easy to worship something other than God. With the way our lives are it’s a wonder we can even know where to find God due to busy schedules.
The basic point I am trying to make, whether I have made it clear or not, is that we all worship something. No matter where we are or what we are doing we worship one thing or another. Here at school I see people worshiping things every single day. Not saying this is a fact but the kid who always running and making sure he doesn't eat one ounce of fattening food before he goes to the gym for the 5th time since lunch is more than likely worshipping one of two things - either he is worshipping his body/ego, or he is worshipping the women that think the kind of body he is so desperately trying to achieve is "HOT."I am not saying that he isn't putting God first at all, I am simply saying that it is very possible that working out comes before God in his life. Probably you are thinking, this must be a guy that is jealous of the body the other guy is getting. In a way you could say yes, I am, but if he is putting that before worshipping God than that is not right at all. I do believe that you should eat healthy and stay in shape because your body is His temple. 1 Corinthians 6:19 states "Do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God?"
By now your whole view of worship is either a bit hazy or completely blurred so bare with me as I explain. (I know I have kept you reading long enough). Worship is something you do everyday. Worship can be expressed through a song, which is most everyone’s favorite way to worship. I would encourage you to listen to Casting Crowns’ song Lifesong. The song gives examples of how we should live for God. Part of the chorus says “I wanna sign Your name at the end of this day, knowing that my heart was true. Let my Lifesong sing to You!” it is saying that he wants to bring glory to God in the day and at the end of the day he wants to feel accomplished because he worshipped the lord through his life. Letting your lifesong sing means that you are letting your life be the song that sings to God, instead of just the songs we sing on Sunday morning along with the church.
I know this post has been more long-typed than either of us had expected. To tell you the truth worship is something I will touch on again someday because it, like creation, is much deeper than just one time to sit down and tell about. To properly convey God’s message concerning worship I will have to do a bit more studying of the word to make sure I give everything involved proper credit. I hope I have touched a few bases covering the topic today and possibly in a post in the near future I can explain a bit further.
One last thing before I go. When I said I had been doing a lot of thinking today, it did not just mean about worship. I thought a lot today and last night about where this blog is going and what exactly it is for. I believe God has given me the ability to write decent stories and blogs so that I can convey his message to the world, one small post at a time. What does that have to do with you? Well, a lot! By me telling you about the Lord you can tell others and possibly even tell others to read my posts. I am going to start using this blog as a ministry to the world. If even one person reads my posts and has a life change, all of my work will be worth it. I wish to bring glory to God through my posts and to relay his message, the Word, to you. Until next time, God bless you.
No comments:
Post a Comment