The Greatest Act of Worship

The greatest purpose God created us for is worship. There are many forms of worship. God never tells us to do something without telling us how to do it, or enabling us to do it. The greatest act of worship is obedience, or surrender. When you surrender to God, you're being obedient to Him. Worship is not just doing things in our lives; worship revolves around obedience, and surrender.

Mark 12:28-34

Then one of the scribes came, and having heard them reasoning together, perceiving that He had answered them well, asked Him, “Which is the first commandment of all?” ²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The first of all the commandments is: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. ³⁰ And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ This is the first commandment. ³¹ And the second, like it, is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.” 

³² So the scribe said to Him, “Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is no other but He. ³³ And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbor as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.” 

³⁴ Now when Jesus saw that he answered wisely, He said to him, “You are not far from the kingdom of God.” But after that no one dared question Him.

How is this commandment related to worship? First of all, we have to understand that obedience is linked to love. Jesus said that the only way we can show God we love Him is by obedience. The only driving force for obedience is love.

John 12:49-50

For I have not spoken on My own authority; but the Father who sent Me gave Me a command, what I should say and what I should speak. ⁵⁰ And I know that His command is everlasting life. Therefore, whatever I speak, just as the Father has told Me, so I speak.”

Jesus demonstrated His love for the Father through His obedience. He obeyed all the Father's instructions. Sometimes we fail to obey God fully, not because we hate God. When God tells us what He wants us to do, we should ask Him how, then do it exactly as He wants us to. God is interested in intimacy/bonding. He doesn't tell us what to do then turns His back to what we're doing. He is interested in walking with us, in close fellowship, helping us do what He wants us to do. He enjoys helping us do the small things.

God told Noah to build an ark, which he'd never seen, and gave him specific measurements, and the Bible says he did it all as God instructed him (Gen. 6:13-22). I'm sure God never gave Noah the whole picture, but rather walked with him, showing him what to do and build, each day. At the end, I'm sure he looked back and was amazed at the result.

Jesus walked with the Father intimately, and when you read the Bible in the book of John, you see how keen He was in fellowshiping with the Father, and walking in accordance to His Word.

John 14:15

"If you love Me, keep My commandments."

An act of worship is listening to what God says, and doing it. Does the above verse mean that when we love God we automatically keep His commandments?

John 14:21

"He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him."

Many times we try to love God by many things (singing, offerings etc.), and maybe sometimes we miss out on real worship for God, missing out on what He really wants for us. Let's not lose our lives trying to please God, our way. God wants us, not the things we can bring Him. If we spend so much time finding out what we're supposed to do, we end up missing out on the real thing. Jesus said whoever seeks to keep his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for His sake will find it (Lk. 9:24) God wants us to find Him, and He'll show us what to do. First, let's seek Him, rather than seeking what to do. God's telling us to stop trying to figure it out, and wants us to trust Him, as He's already figured it out. Our lives become simple, when we make it only about setting our hearts on God. Since He's already figured it out, He'll show us what to do, step by step. Obedience is also not about what to do, but also what not to do. If you're not listening, not set your heart to seek Him, you'll miss God and His purpose for you, doing many things and thinking they're pleasing God, whereas they're not. When we fail to obey, it's us who miss out, not God. No one has better interests for us, than God. He's the only One we should dedicate ourselves to receive instructions from, not anyone else. There are many instructions and advices today, in the world, from many 'experts'. We need to only rely on Jesus.

You cannot obey God without humility. It's very important for us to walk in the mind of Christ, as believers (1 Cor. 2:16). When He gives us His Word, we need to receive it with our hearts and with His mind, not with our natural minds, as our natural minds can't comprehend the things of God.

Philippians 2:5-8

Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, ⁶ who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, ⁷ but made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. ⁸ And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross. 

We should have the mind of Christ at all times. The greatest act of worship is simply to die to ourselves, to obey God to the point of death. At the garden of Gethsemane, His flesh was telling Him no, but He went with God's will and Word. Today we're reminded that we ought to go to God with a blank cheques, be able to go before Him and tell Him to help us. Let's not figure out what He's going to tell us; we need to open our hearts and be willing to do what He wants us to do with all our hearts, follow His path, no matter how unpopular or uncool it seems to people. We need to surrender and let His grace help us to obey God fully. Always keep in mind that between the time your eyes are open to when you shut them at night, there's something that God wants us to do.

God sees our hearts; let God stir up obedience in your heart. As we surrender, He works in us to help us be willing to do His will.

Obedience will teach you about God more than a lifetime of Bible study sessions will. 

Blessings. 

 

    Dominic Mwata

(Sunday Morning Exhortation, Teaching Transformation Ministry.)

Brother Mwata is a friend of Teaching Transformation Ministry. We are located along the Thika-Ruai Flyover Junction (at the Thika Rd./ Bypass intersection), Next to Eastgate Restaurant.