Worshipनमुना

The wider world of worship

Followers of Jesus are familiar with the importance of worshipping God. But their use of the ‘worship’ word varies. For some it’s simply a musical segment in a church gathering, or private joining in with Christian songs at home. And so we hear such phrases as, ‘Now we’ve had a time of worship, we will pray and hear the scriptures read and preached’. However, worship is more than just singing songs or listening to them.

When we pray or interact with the Bible, we’re actually worshipping. We’re giving honour to God, we’re recognising His ultimate worth, we’re offering allegiance to Him. For sure it’s good to do this musically, but worship is a whole-of-life affair.

The Old Testament prophets were scathing in their criticism of those in their time who went through the formal, liturgical routines and did not live out their faith outside those routines. In other words, we are to worship when we gather together and when we more privately praise God, but also as we go about our daily lives. We offer ourselves to God as His obedient and much loved servants.

And sometimes, worship is linked to a certain feeling. But it need not always be so linked. It is good to feel close to God, to be lost in adoration of Him. Yet, we can still recognise His greatness and love without such feelings.

In the end, worship is not primarily about how we feel about God, but about how He feels about us.

Written by DAVID REAY