I Was So Wrong About Worship — Is It Just Singing?

Now I’m learning so much more: My understanding is growing

Photo by Carolina Jacomin on Unsplash

The ideas in my head

I’ve heard it so many times. Worship is not just a song, a tune, a melody.

The idea of worship I had was singing in church. Don’t get me wrong, it is a song in a church, but it is much, much more.I have struggled to fully understand the meaning of worship. Probably the best place to start is by understanding the word “WORSHIP.”

Origins of the word?

I attempted to put it in my own words, but it would have been an injustice, so here is the exact Wikipedia explanation.

The word is derived from the Old English weorþscipe, meaning to venerate “worship, honour shown to an object, which has been etymologised as ‘worthinessor worth-ship’” — to give, at its simplest, worth to something.

Worship is directed to someone, something, and in my case, towards God. It is a way to show that God is bigger than me.

Worship in the Bible

Worship is first mentioned in Genesis 22. This happened after God instructed Abraham to sacrifice his only son Isaac. This instruction alone is heavily laden with emotion. It is not just Abraham’s son.

It is his only son that God gave him in his old age. Even after Abraham made his own plans to “help” God fulfill his promise. So Isaac was not just a son; he was the son of promise. He was the future that God promised to Abraham.

And now God wanted him back.

We do not know if Abraham spoke to anybody about this. What was going on in his head? There must have been many questions starting with: “why?”

To Abraham’s credit, he rose early in the morning. No time for sitting around, asking around, or talking to somebody who could change his resolve.

“So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him.” (Genesis 22: 3, NKJV).

Here we see that Abraham has already made up his mind. He is going to sacrifice his ONLY son. How did he explain it to the young men with him?

“Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, ‘Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.’” (Genesis 22: 4–5, NKJV).

Confronting my worship ideas

So my idea of singing worship songs in church as being the only way to worship God has taken a blow.

Here Abraham is giving something very precious to God. He also is very obedient to God’s instructions. Worship will then involve giving.

If we think about giving, our thoughts tend to go towards money. We have to give money! Money is not the only thing we can give. We can give our time, status, emotion, comfort, and ultimately our lives.

“For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul? Or what will a man give in exchange for his soul?” (Mark 8: 35–37, NKJV).

God-centered

Our worship can give something to us. I feel good when I give to the church, sing in the church, or lend a helping hand where I can. Now I know this is good and well, but God must always be the center of my worship.

It is easy to focus on my sacrifice, time, or money, but the focus must always be on God. There is a trend to focus on the worshipper and making him/her feel good and comfortable. That is wonderful, but there must be more focus on giving respect and reverence to God.

The “act” of worship must come out of an attitude of worship. God-centered.

Worshiping God

The worship in our church is phenomenal. I would not want it any other way. I believe this Sunday worship is not just the only way I can worship. I can worship by putting God first. Showing with my life that He is “worth” worshiping.

This I can do with how I do my work, spend my time treat other people. Abraham showed us that God’s plan, instructions, and ways are higher than ours.

If we act on this belief with our life, our life can be an act of worship.

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