What’s It Worth To You?

I’ve told you my personal definition of worship, but let’s press a little further today. I’ve often thought that "Worship" is a funny word. Take a look at it. W O R S H I P. Have you ever wondered how those letters came to represent our adoration of God? Maybe I’m just a little too analytical, but I've often wondered from where we derived that word.

If you're thoroughly curious now, and even if you're not, here's the answer. Worship comes from Old English. It is derived from two words, worth + ship. The original meaning is "to ascribe worth to." When we worship God we are attributing worth to Him. It is important to note that worship does not measure the actual worth of a person or object, but rather how much worth is ascribed to that person or object.

By showing up on Sunday morning, you are saying, "God, you are worth at least two hours of my time and attention." By volunteering in the church or in any Christian mission, you are saying, "God, you are worth a few more hours of my time and energy, and your kingdom is important to me." By giving your resources and finances to the church or any Christian mission, you are saying, "God, you are worth my money. Your kingdom is so important to me, that I would gladly give financially to support it. Not only that, but God, you are worthy of my trust. I trust that you will provide for my needs as I provide for your kingdom."

We, in the human race, have a tendency to compartmentalize our lives. "Over here I have my work, over here my family, over here are my hobbies and over here is the church." We have separated life into the sacred and the secular. To God, however, all of our life is sacred. Our worship should reflect that. Worship shouldn't be what we "do" on Sunday and Wednesday, it should be a constant flow of attributing worth to the one who is worth everything! My goal is that someday the worth that I attribute to God will come close to matching His actual worth.

Your homework this week is to examine you worship this past month. How much worth have you been ascribing to God? Does it come close to matching God's actual worth? Pray and ask God how your worship should change to reflect His worthiness in the following five areas: your prayers, presence, gifts, service, and witness.

"You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might." – Deuteronomy 6:5

Popular posts from this blog

The Power of a Memory

“For I received from the Lord what I also passed on to you: The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, " This is my body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of me. " In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, " This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me ." —1 Corinthians 11:23-25 Has it ever happened to you? You walk into a room and suddenly the sight, smell, or feel of that room transports you thousands of miles to your grandmother’s house? In an instant you are 10 again. It is so real that you could almost walk to the kitchen and grab a cookie. What you have just experienced is the power of a memory. Our brains catalog, not just the sequence of events, but the sounds, sights, smells, tastes and touches of those events and places as well. And every time we come into contact with those senses again, our brain, quick as lightni
Read more

Commission

"Finally, brothers, pray for us that the message of the Lord may spread rapidly and be honored, just as it was with you." —1 Thessalonians 3:1 Each year, we at Faith participate in commissioning several mission teams. We declare that those who go out from us in mission are “Ambassadors” not only of God’s Kingdom, but also of the Faith family. When I tell friends and colleagues at other churches about our missions involvement, they are consistently astonished, both at the number of trips we take, and the number of participants on those trips. After participating in so many commissionings, I thought I had a pretty good idea of what to expect this past Sunday as you commissioned the Guatemala trip. I have been looking forward to this trip for many months; but as you commissioned us, the trip became real. I felt a deep joy swell over me, both that I had the opportunity to go, and that the church, my church, was praying for me and sending me out. I don’t know that I will
Read more

Finding Freedom: Part III - When Is Enough, Enough?

" Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, 'Lord, how many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?' Jesus answered, 'I tell you, not seven times, but seventy-seven times.' " —Matthew 18:21-22 We've spent the last two weeks talking about Forgiveness. We established that forgiveness is a choice, for we know that God is not a tyrant commanding the impossible; and we defined Forgiveness as "releasing my right to be angry and/or bitter toward a person for the wrong they committed and releasing the outcome to God." We have addressed what forgiveness looks like in response to an offence, but what happens when the wound in question is not as a result of an event, but rather of a behavior. What happens when you can’t even count the number of times you have been wronged? The Rabbinical teaching of the day stated that forgiving someone three times was sufficient. Peter knew of Jesus tendency to require more than the other Ra
Read more