We have all heard of worship. We know people who worship the ground their lover walks on. We know God says to worship him alone. But, in all of this, what IS worship? What is the essence of worship? And what does it have to do with my day to day life?
[wpvideo tsJSmZ3x]
Video length: 2 minutes 31 second
What is the essence of worship?
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I can’t thank you enough.
Sam,
Very good. It is an awareness I need every week. It also, in a way, allows me to know I value other things, and these things aren’t bad. We’re wired for significance and satisfaction, but it is easier and, frankly, more comfortable to go after, think about, etc., the things that may bring some level of quick return, but ultimately are flat and unsatisfying.
Maybe you could follow this with some thoughts on how God and His Kingdom return so much more in life now and in the future. Some examples from your life would be cool, but I also know you try to keep things to a couple minutes. Maybe one telling story?
Miss you and am dreaming about the Posse of Nine hanging out on your horse farm!!
(Hmm? Now is that worship? I’m thinking about it, meditating on it…..?)
David
David,
Thanks for the comments. Let me comment back on two of your observations.
First: THANKS so much for offering a gentle criticism by suggesting I tell some stories. My experience with WAH guys is that we can be SO concerned about wounding each other that we fail to offer correction for fear we will wound them. Your gentle correction will help my vblogs, and it expressed great love. Proverbs 27:6 says: Faithful [or sweet] are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy. I found your ‘wound’ sweet and faithful, that of a dear friend.
Now, if I can only squeeze a story in the my self-allotted 2.5 minutes!!
Second: in that video I cut some of my outline to squeeze it into my target time. And you saw through it. I believe that worshipping God—that is attributing to him ULTIMATE value—will increase our joys of the things in the world. If we worship our spouse, then our happiness and even our total being rests on him or her, and that relationship cannot bear it. Either we’ll pour everything into them and they’ll run away, or we’ll fail to ever say what is going on with us, fearing they’ll see the real us, and they’ll run away.
It is only when God is our ultimate value that we can enjoy the riches of relationships while not being devastated by their (frequent) failures.
So, worshipping created things robs us of the very joy we wish them to give; while worshipping God allows us a freedom to enjoy the many and varied riches in the physical world.
Thanks David, you are a true friend and brother.
Sam
Hi Sam,
Good point that, while it is OK and natural to want and to work toward getting ‘things’ like maybe a new car, boat, house, vacation etc, we must keep our mind on that which is most important and which will not fail us. Specifically, God’s love. Only through that will we find enjoyment in our earthly possessions. Giving ultimate value to God instead of objects is kind of like a spiritual investment that will pay off in the long run.
Thinking about the post, I realized that I have always kind of lumped worship and prayer together as one thing. Really though, they are very different but I guess I never gave it much thought before. And that is one of the things that I find most enjoyable about your posts, they always seem to make me think and reflect, even though it might be uncomfortable to do so.