Real Worship
Previous
The Sum of Our Lives
Next
Time Does Tell
The Sum of Our Lives
"Worthy is the Lamb who was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom, and strength and honor and glory and blessing!"
A number of words in the Bible are translated "worship." The one used the most often means "to bow down and do homage." Another biblical word for worship means "to kiss toward." Put the two words together, and you will have a good idea of what real worship is. We worship God because He is worthy. In doing so, we bow down and pay homage to Him. That speaks of reverence and respect for God. But we also "kiss toward" Him, which speaks of tenderness and intimacy.
We ought to be learning all we can about worship, because it will be one of the primary activities of heaven. And Jesus made it clear that there is a right way and a wrong way to worship. There is true and false worship.
The Pharisees, who thought they were experts at worship, were by and large not even close. Jesus said of them, " 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men' " (Matthew 15:8–9).
Some people are too flippant and casual with God. They seem to think of Him as their celestial Big Buddy and approach Him that way in prayer: "Hey, Lord, how are you doing?" Others recognize God as holy and all-powerful and may even tremble before Him, but they don't realize that God wants to be known in an intimate and personal way.
We are to revere God. We are to honor Him. But we are also to embrace Him in closeness. We are to engage our hearts, with no hypocrisy. That encompasses true worship.
We ought to be learning all we can about worship, because it will be one of the primary activities of heaven. And Jesus made it clear that there is a right way and a wrong way to worship. There is true and false worship.
The Pharisees, who thought they were experts at worship, were by and large not even close. Jesus said of them, " 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men' " (Matthew 15:8–9).
Some people are too flippant and casual with God. They seem to think of Him as their celestial Big Buddy and approach Him that way in prayer: "Hey, Lord, how are you doing?" Others recognize God as holy and all-powerful and may even tremble before Him, but they don't realize that God wants to be known in an intimate and personal way.
We are to revere God. We are to honor Him. But we are also to embrace Him in closeness. We are to engage our hearts, with no hypocrisy. That encompasses true worship.
TODAY'S RADIO PROGRAM: "The Who, Where & Why of Evangelism — I"
Copyright © 2007 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved. Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version.
Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights
reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced
in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas
Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000
Time Does Tell
Sign up for Pastor Greg's daily devotion e-mails!
Harvest on the go!
Our best content is now in one place on your mobile device to help you know God and make Him known.
Download
