Day 24

The Joy of Sunday Morning: Part 3

Worship

"Worship changes the worshiper into the image of the One worshiped"
Jack Hayford

Out of all the joys of a church service, I enjoy the worship time the most. I love coming to the doorway of heaven and proclaiming the praises of my God, Savior, King, and Lord. There is something about singing poetic lyrics with beautiful harmonies that conveys so well what I want to tell Christ. God blessed us when He gave us music, and I love using it to praise Him. I also have the greatest respect for worship song writers, because they take the truth found in the Bible and put the words together to form such beautiful expressions of adoration. I also love the variety of worship songs. Some are prayers that we pray to God: "We cry out for your love to refine us, cry out, for your love to define us, cry out for your mercy to keep us blameless 'til you return." (Reign in Us) Some are words that God has spoken to us: "I thought of you before the world began to breathe, I knew your name before you came to be. I saw the very day you'd turn away from me, and how desperately you'd need to be redeemed." (Reign in Us) Some are proclamations of God's character: "Almighty, most holy God, faithful through the ages; Almighty, most holy Lord, glorious almighty God." (Almighty) And some are the gospel in glorious simplicity: "Living He loved me, dying He saved me, buried He carried my sins far away, rising He justified, freely forever, one day He's coming, oh, glorious day." (Glorious Day)

I'm afraid that I don't always find joy in worship with the right motives, though. Worship is about proclaiming the attributes of God: His holiness, love, mercy, grace, worthiness, greatness, and the list could go on. Worship is about God, but like everything else, I can make it about me. For one thing, I have favorite worship songs. I feel like I can worship better with songs that I like, but really it shouldn't matter if I like the song or not, because it's not about me. As long as the song glorifies God, I should be able to worship the same as with songs I love. I also like worshiping because when I am completely focused on God, I can escape this world and its troubles for a little while. Although it's good to completely focus on God, I should not use it as a form of escapism. Yes, I should long for heaven and to be with Jesus forever and ever, but I still need to live well during my time on earth.

As with every part of my walk with God, I want to worship well but I am still so human, and need His constant grace for when I fail.

May you find joy in worship.