“’Get out of here, Satan,’ Jesus told him. ‘For the Scriptures say, “You must worship the Lord your God and serve only Him.”’” (Matthew 4:10 NLT)
Our life-defining worship isn’t what we do when gathered with others, it’s how we live our lives from day to day. Many can get excited about the compelling music and powerful messages given in a corporate setting, but while God certainly shows up when we worship Him with others, I’m convinced His favorite times with us are when we recognize Him in the middle of an exam at school or working as unto Him in our chosen professions.
It’s amazing to me how many people I know who profess faith in Jesus, never open their Bible or lift their heart and mind to God in prayer except in a time of crisis. David Jeremiah wrote: “Going through life without worship is like living with blurred vision. We can neither see nor understand things clearly. Our wisdom is indistinct, and our perspective is fuzzy.”
Early in my walk with the Lord I believed that my “quiet time” was to include reading the Bible and praying, which, of course, it is. But at that point in my walk, I believed the hour or so I spent with Him in the morning was pretty much “it.” I may have done “sentence prayers” on and off throughout my day, but for all intent and purpose my mind was focused on what was in front of me to do, not on Jesus.
It didn’t occur to me until much later in my faith walk that my mind needs to be focused and centered on Jesus every moment of every day. Everything else is incidental to worshipping Him with my whole being. Our lives are “acts of worship,” whether we’re singing a worship song at church or doing what we do at work.
Regardless of our profession, every detail of our being needs to be dependent upon the Spirit’s leadership and Jesus’ lordship in and through us. Paul summarized this in Colossians 3:23 when he wrote: “Work willingly at whatever you do, as though you were working for the Lord rather than for people.” We’re called to be instruments of the living God, allowing Him to do His work in and through us regardless of where we are or what we’re doing.
Be the best barber, police officer, accountant, teacher, or whatever else God has called you to do, never allowing your mind to stray from your dependence upon the Spirit’s leadership to speak and work in and through you every second of every day.
There are those who see “worship” as boring and out of touch with “real” life. Yes, of course, there are times we need to be alone on our face before the Lord, but we are no less God-dependent in the middle of a presentation at work as we are begging Him to watch over our sons and daughters.
When we yield our lives to Jesus, He becomes our life. We don’t add Him to our busy schedules, we step aside and let Him orient and dictate what our schedules are to be. When we’re too busy to allow Jesus to lead our lives, we’re allowing the enemy to lead them. David Jeremiah wrote: “Worshiping God each day means focusing on Him, letting Him give us the vision and perspective we need. Turn your mind toward Jesus and learn to think on Scripture as you go to sleep, wake up, and go through your day.”
If you’re turned off by Jesus, you don’t have a clue who He is. A. W. Tozer said: “Any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” Worship is the time and effort we give to what we love, whether that’s singing songs and listening to a sermon or praising and honoring the Lord as we wax our car.
If you want insight into what you worship take a hard look at where you spend your time and money. If you’re not seeing Jesus there, He’s very likely not a part of your life.
Food for thought.
Blessings, Ed 😊
Walking With Jesus 