Continuous Worship

 

I listen to K-LOVE on a regular basis. I find it to be very encouraging and inspirational. The music really speaks to me. Just over a year ago, I signed up to receive the K-LOVE verse of the day. Shortly after, I started receiving daily notifications for my verse of the day, right on my cell phone. I received the same verse of the day. The same verse. Every. Day. I initially thought it was strange, but most likely just some kind of glitch. I performed a quick search on the K-LOVE website, their Facebook page, and even Google to see if anyone else reported the same issue. I found nothing. I proceeded on with my life, not thinking much more about it. A few months later, I decided to troubleshoot the issue again. I removed myself from receiving the verse of the day. I then signed up again to receive it. I still got that same verse on my phone every day. Hmmm. I have provided my verse of the day in the image below. 

After several more months of receiving that exact same verse every day, I began to think that perhaps God was trying to tell me something. (Sometimes I'm a little slow.) God works in some very mysterious ways. Maybe He was telling me that this verse was specifically intended for me to read and reflect upon every day. Hmmmm. Maybe it's one of my life verses. I thought about that. I really considered what the Lord was trying to tell me. 

Worship the Lord with gladness. Come before Him, singing with joy. - Psalm 100: 2

Worship Him with gladness. Come before him while singing with joy. Every. Day. Every single day. I got the picture. The Lord was telling me that I need to continuously worship Him, seek Him, and sing to him. Distracted with a doctorate program and a challenging full-time job, sadly I had not been doing that. What does it mean to continuously worship and seek the Lord? I believe that it may look different for each of God's children. For me, I have a sense that it means that I will have a constant open dialogue with God, like an ongoing conversation. I am to come to God daily, pray, worship through words and song, express my thanks for all that He has given me, discuss my fears and concerns, and ask for His divine assistance to help me to be the servant that he wants me to be.

It is clear as I stated above that the Lord wants us to constantly worship Him and seek Him. But what does it really mean to worship? According to Merriam-Webster dictionary, the term worship is both a verb and a noun. As a verb, worship means: 

1. "to honor or show reverence for as a divine being or supernatural power"
2. "to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion"

The term worship as a noun means:

1. "reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power"
2. "a form of religious practice with its creed and ritual"
3. "extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem"

Worship is a verb, which indicates that we as God's children can perform or carry out worship as an action to exalt Him and draw nearer to Him. As a noun, worship can be considered a thing, such as our offering to God to express our faith in Him and praise for His awesomeness. Did you notice that third definition of worship as a noun? It indicates that we can also worship objects. Oh my! Our God is a jealous God. We are to reserve our worship for Him alone!

You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and and keep my commandments.

- Exodus 20: 4 - 6

We are to worship nobody and nothing besides the Lord God Our Heavenly Father and Creator. I know what you're thinking. When would you ever create an idol and then worship it? But what you may not understand is that we have those idols in our lives already in the form of money, clothing, shoes, cars, make-up, etc. When we put those things above God, it is like we are worshiping those things instead of him. If you put a famous athlete or movie star above the Lord, you are worshipping that person instead of God. He deserves our continuous worship as our All-Powerful, Loving Creator. We need that worship to strengthen our relationship with Him. We were created to worship Him. 

It seems appropriate to close this post with one of my favorite worship songs ever. I hope that you enjoy it and find that it brings you into a more meaningful place as you worship the Lord.