Worship
Have you ever thought about the human desire to worship?
If you go to any sports stadium – around the world – you will find throes of fans all chanting and cheering for their favourite teams, encouraging them towards victory.
Now, place those same precious souls in a church setting and watch their worship turn to boredom and distraction.
I am making an assumption here, I’m aware of that. I know that there are plenty of people who both love Jesus and support a local sports team and are as energetic in worship at church as they are on when spectating the sports field. But I hazard to guess that the adoration these sports fans pour out onto the field is the only place that they show such devoted affections, other than to their families and loved ones.
My point is that we were all designed to worship…something.
If we have not yet discovered Jesus as our Lord and Saviour, it is likely that we will find something else to focus our energy and affections on.
My encouragement to us today is to be mindful of the things that we give ourselves over to, and to keep them in measured check in comparison to our faith in Jesus.
God, Jesus and The Holy Spirit – The Trinity – are the only Ones who can handle the weight of our worship – and there is a reason for that! It’s part of our design!
True worship means to reverently show deep honour and respect to God alone. He is the only One worthy of it. He is the only One it was ever designed to go to.
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And God spoke all these words:
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. “You shall have no other gods before me. “You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below.”
(Exodus 20:1-4 NIV)
Questions:
- How does the commandment in Exodus 20:1-4 resonate with the challenges of modern-day living where various distractions vie for our attention? What are some practical ways we can ensure we prioritise their worship and devotion solely to God in a world filled with competing influences?
- Discuss some prevalent modern-day “idols” that subtly draw people away from wholehearted worship of God. How can Christians identify and guard against these idols in their personal lives and communities without isolating themselves from society?
- How does the act of placing something or someone else above God affect our faith and relationship with Him?
