Daily Devotion: The Word Revealed - Worship: According to the Word of God and Embracing All of Life - 2 Timothy 4:2 and Psalm 139 1-3
A Christian worship service is a formal
gathering of the redeemed to personally express their love and adoration toward
God. In these services we declare the “worth-ship” of God. In
worship, we see, hear, and understand how God reveals Himself as deity; we
agree with God’s assessment of Himself; and we give God what He is due, our
full-fledged love and devotion, all praise, honor, and glory. Worship is
essential for our love of God to become more passionate, intimate, and
fulfilling. God’s Word communicates the principles of how to properly
worship the Lord. Those Biblical principles are: Worship is to be
God-centered and God-directed, Worship is to be Christ-focused, Worship is to
be Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, Worship is to be according to and filled with
the Word of God, Worship is to embrace every aspect of our life. Today we
explore the principles of worship being According to the Word of God and Embracing
Every Area of Our Lives.
Worship is to be According To and Filled
With the Word of God
Proper worship services will follow the
dictates of God’s Word. God tells us how to worship, and how not to
worship. Our love relationship with the Lord grows as we hear God’s Word
in the worship service. We are to hear the Word read, taught, preached,
and shared. The Apostle Paul told Timothy, “give
attention to reading, to exhortation, to doctrine.”
Furthermore, Paul instructed Timothy to “Preach
the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all
longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Timothy 4:2. As we hear the great
truths of the nature of God, the wonder of our salvation, and the glory of our
high calling, how could we not fall further and further in love with our God?
Pause & Ponder: Worship is a
participatory activity. We don’t watch worship; we actively participate in
worshiping the Lord. Having our Bibles open, following along as God’s
Word is read, or taught, or preached always brings greater depth and meaning
and blessing to our worship experience. Fully participate in each worship
by having your Bibles open and engage yourself in the ministry of the Word.
Worship is to Embrace Every Aspect of Our
Life
Worship is not to be disconnected from the
everyday life to which God has called us. We are to rejoice in creation:
Psalm 19:1, “The heavens declare
the glory of God; And
the firmament shows His handiwork.” We are to glory in the human
experience: Psalm 139:1-3, “O Lord, You
have searched me and known me. You
know my sitting down and my rising up; You understand
my thought afar off. You comprehend
my path and my lying down, And
are acquainted with all my ways.” In worship we are to praise God
for His perfect commandments which are for our good and protection: Psalm
119:14-16, “I have rejoiced in the way
of Your testimonies, As much as in
all riches. I will meditate on
Your precepts, And contemplate
Your ways. I
will delight myself in Your statutes; I
will not forget Your word.” The list of how our worship is to
cover every aspect of our life is wonderfully long and at each step leads us to
see new glory in the one we love above all else. In worship, we are to
confess our sins and celebrate forgiveness. We are to cry out to God in
times of trouble and sorrow. We pray for vindication when we are falsely
accused. We are to praise God for answered prayer and deliverance.
We are to call upon God’s judgment of evil. We are to rejoice in loved
ones, and work, and all the daily blessings of life. And we are to look
forward to the coming again of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. God
calls us to worship Him in the context of our everyday world of which He is in
sovereign control. See His handiwork and fall further in love with Him.
Conclusion
The worship service of a church is to be a
passionate expression of love and allegiance to our Savior God. Worship
is accomplished not merely by worship leaders and the pastor following these
five principles. Worship is accomplished when all the gathered believers
are humbly applying these five principles. The love and adoration shown
is pleasing to the Lord when it is God-centered and God-directed,
Christ-Focused, Spirit-filled and Spirit-led, filled with and according to the
Word, and embraces every aspect of our life. This type of worship is not
only pleasing to the Lord, it blesses every area of our love relationship with
God. These regular celebrations of love are essential to a vibrant love
relationship with the God of our salvation.