ABC's of Godly Character - W

W is for Worship! Worship is reverent honor paid to God; adoring reverence; attending services of divine worship; to feel an adoring reverence or regard. Worship means reverent love and devotion to God. Worship is an outward expression of our love for God.

We should worship God every day in all we do. Psalm 95:6 says “Oh come, let us worship and bow down; Let us kneel before the LORD our Maker.” It’s easy to get things in life out of balance. It is easy to put “things” above God without realizing it. Idols interfere with our worship if we are not cautious. Does your phone, Xbox, computer, sports, ballgames, boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse/kids, family, talking, friends, school, or work, interfere with your worship? If you spend time with these things when you should be studying God’s word, praying, witnessing, or attending church on a regular basis then you may need to evaluate your life and what you are worshiping. We should take time DAILY to worship God and thank Him for all He has blessed us with. We should avoid appearances and behaviors that detract from our ultimate goal of being believable witnesses for Jesus Christ and demonstrating our Christian faith. We should honor God with the way we dress, our attitudes, and our manners toward others when we attend church and in daily life—that is worship. When we enter into the House of God we should have the attitude of being open and ready participate and to listen to God. Are you just going through the motions or do you have meaningful worship with God? 

Matthew West sings: “This might hurt, it's not safe but I know that I've gotta make a change. I don't care if I break, at least I'll be feeling something, 'cause just okay is not enough. Help me fight through the nothingness of life. I don't wanna go through the motions. I don't wanna go one more day without Your all consuming passion inside of me. I don't wanna spend my whole life asking, ‘What if I had given everything, instead of going through the motions?’ No regrets, not this time. I'm gonna let my heart defeat my mind, let Your love make me whole.”

It is more than putting on a good appearance attending church; true worship occurs in your heart and mind. 

Chris Tomlin sums it up this way: “Here I am to worship, here I am to bow down, here I am to say that you're my God. You're altogether lovely, altogether worthy, altogether wonderful to me. I'll never know how much it cost to see my sin upon that cross. Here I am to worship.” 

Are you here to worship? Deuteronomy 8:19 warns us about a heart not devoted to the One True God “if you forget the Lord your God and go after other gods and serve them and worship them, I solemnly warn you today that you shall surely perish”. Matthew Henry said “It is not enough for us to be where God is worshiped, if we do not ourselves worship Him”.

Prayer starter: Dear Lord, please develop a true heart of worship in me. Reveal any idols that I am placing in front of You. Help me to always keep You first in my life. In Your Glorious Name I pray, Amen.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to have a heart of worship, every day. D.L. Moody said “We ought to see the face of God every morning before we see the face of man”. Have you sought the face of God in worship today? We should all want to be like Mary, the sister of Martha, who sat at Jesus’ feet listening while Martha worked in the kitchen (Luke 10:38-42). We may not be able to sit at His actual feet but we can in our hearts and minds today!