worship

A friend of mind posted a note asking for thoughts on "worship" and it got me thinking…I have a lot of thoughts on worship. Too many, in fact, to put in a response to a note, so I thought I'd compile some of them here. When I was in college, I played in an acoustic rock band called "His Holy Hill" that my brother and I started. One of our former band titles was "Underwater Basket Weavers" and after that, "Splendor." In my course of playing in the band, we were always known as the "worship band" because many of our original songs had a worship feel, and we always did worship as part of our shows. We even got to the point where people were asking us to just come and lead worship primarily, so I had become attached to worship in the musical form.

I once heard a guy say that "worship is an attitude of the heart." I think it was Jeremy Kingsley at one of the B.S.U. events that I attended at North Greenville College. If i could sum it up in one word now, worship = lifestyle. However, in a greater sense, worship is our response to what God has done. many do not know how to worship, because they do not know what he has done. Therefore, worship must be preceded with the gospel. When we wrestle with the truth of what God has done for us through his son, Jesus, then we will truly know how to worship. Jesus made the statement in John 4: 23, "yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks." The truth of what we know and even what we have yet to realize will hit us and the time will come when we have no choice but to worship, to respond to that truth.

I get worship bumps (chills) when I realize what God has done for me, and when I respond in worship. If I take the time to quiet my soul, and focus on the Spirit of God, then I can find Him in those places of worship. I had one such instance this past Sunday morning—the Spirit of God truly fell as we wrestled with the truth that "God can do more than we can ask or imagine, He can do more than I can even dream or even comprehend. He can do more, again and again, it surprises me." After recognizes that God is present in our struggles, and is not worried about what the future holds, but desires for us to connect with Him, the response for me was magnificent. It was true worship—expressing my heart's gratitude and desires for God to blow my mind, and do MORE that I can imagine.

Yet, hasn't Jesus already done the unimaginable in his death and resurrection, conquering death and the grave so that we may be made completely whole, and restored to relationship with God? Yes, He has. So, I must choose to praise. You ask what I think of when I hear the word worship? It's a lifestyle. A Response. A Sacrifice. Praise. Dedication. Adoration. Communion. Obedience. Being in love.