What is "Worship"?

One of the reasons I love having children in worship is because their worship is so authentic. Have you ever seen a young child clapping their hands or jiggling their bodies (some might call dancing ;-) to the beat of the music. It’s quite delightful! It scarcely matters who sees, they just respond to the music and move as they were created to move.

In 2 Samuel 6:14 it reads, “David, wearing a linen ephod, danced before the LORD with all his might”.

And in Psalm 149:3 David himself writes, “let them praise His name with dancing and make music to Him with tambourine and harp.

What is worship? The dictionary definition of worship is:

  • reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; and
  • extravagant respect or admiration for, or devotion to, an object of esteem.

True worship, the kind of worship that God seeks, is described in John 4:23-24:

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. For they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.

True worship is when one’s spirit adores and connects with the spirit of God – when the very core of one’s being is found in loving HIM.

Worship is everything we do on Sunday morning: singing, praying, giving, works, and (yes) even dancing.

But would you believe that we could do all these great things, and do them well, and still not worship God?

It’s because those actions alone miss the essence of what worship is all about.

Mark 12:30 says, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength”. This verse, I believe, captures what worship really means.

True worship is a lifestyle and it happens when we put God first in our lives.

I believe that all of life is worship and that worship is what we were created to do.

Worship is our very purpose to bring everything we are to the cross, giving thanks and bringing extravagant respect and admiration to the Creator of heaven and earth, the Great I AM.

Perhaps why I love to watch children worship is because it represents an unhindered freedom. Worshiping with all their heart, soul, mind and strength.

Are we not called to worship God as a little child?

I look forward to worshiping extravagantly with you on Sunday!

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