Reflection: Holy Habits - Worship

What is worship?

I like to think of it as “worth-ship”, when we try to tell God his worth.

When Jesus was talking with the Samaritan woman at the well, he said to her, “Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshippers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshippers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

It would seem that He was implying that the worship of the Jews and the Samaritans was a worldly kind of worship, a set of rituals and an external show, and that He was bringing about a new kind of worship that would be deeper and more heartfelt. Are we this kind of worshipper, or do we sing hymns without really taking in the words or meaning them, and when we pray in church, do we really want what we are asking him for?

I am not saying this to make anyone feel inadequate or guilty, but to be realistic about our worship.

If our worship is less than it ought to be, maybe that is because we do not yet fully understand the extent of what the Lord Jesus has achieved for us.

When we come together to worship in church, it is not just to honour God, but also to remind ourselves and each other just how much God has done for us.

The kind of worship that we take part in during our church services, however, is only part of the picture. Our whole lives are to be given over to him and to his service.

The apostle Paul says in Romans 12:1 “Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”
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Kevin Haigh