For many of us, when we hear the word “worship,” we immediately think of those 20 or so minutes at the beginning of every church service where the band plays at the front of the sanctuary and the entire congregation sings along. This is not an incorrect association, the songs we sing at church can most certainly be acts of worship, but the problem arises when that is the only thing we associate with worship. Many people even separate church services into two parts: the worship and the sermon. This is an extremely common dichotomy, but what people don’t realize is that the worship is worship, the sermon is worship, the meet-and-greet is worship, and everything that is your daily life is worship.
Meriam’s Dictionary, 1828, defines worship as “honoring with extravagant love and extreme submission,” a definition that I believe captures the true Biblical definition of worship; to honor God with extravagant love and extreme submission. This definition doesn’t have qualifications like, “honoring with extravagant love and extreme submission on Sundays between 10:30 a.m, and 10:50 a.m.” or “honoring with extravagant love and extreme submission while singing songs by Chris Tomlin with your hands raised,” it simply says, “honoring with extravagant love and extreme submission.” Period. There are no time constraints or boundaries for your worship to the God Most High.
Isaiah 29:13 says that, in the words of the LORD, that “these people come near me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based merely on human rules that they have been taught.” Many of us are taught that we go to church on Sundays, stand respectfully in the pews and sing during worship, and then we leave church and go about our week. And many of us stand there thinking to ourselves, “Okay, I’m in church worshipping God, I’m singing, this is good!” But worship has less to do with the location of our bodies, and more to do with the location of our hearts.
Worship is a heart-thing, not a mouth-thing or a body-thing. When you’re singing at church, where is your heart? Are you truly thinking about the words that you’re saying and directing them at God, desiring only to give God all the glory and all the thanks for His great love and mercy? Or are you merely singing the words while thinking of what might be for lunch after the service?
Worship extends far beyond the sanctuary. Everything that you say, think, and do, every second of every day should be an act of worship, glorifying the LORD. That doesn’t mean that you have to think about God every second of every day, it just means that what you say, think, do is pleasing to the LORD. Cooking dinner with your mom, making your bed, watching your favorite TV show, hanging out with your friends, even brushing your teeth can be an act of worship.
So are you laying down your life to the LORD? Are you completely and entirely in love with the King of Kings? Is everything that you say, think, and do an act of worship to the God Most High? Are you honoring Him with extravagant love and extreme submission every second of every day? I know that seems like a tall order, but we are so undeserving of the love, grace, and mercy that God showed us when He sent His son to take the punishment for our sins and so undeserving of the love, grace, and mercy that He shows us still today, but God is every bit deserving of all that we can give Him, our hearts and our minds and our bodies. He is worthy of all of our praise. We owe it all to Him, so let your life be an act of worship, not just your voice on Sunday mornings.
