Introduction: What happens in your life Monday-Saturday?
• Kids to school
• Work
• Cook
• Sleep
• Entertainment
• Social life
• Clean house
• Check Facebook a thousand times 😉
• Etc.
How do you worship God Monday through Saturday? Or, is worship confined to Sunday when you walk through the church doors?
God - "Here’s what you’re supposed to do in life: you’re supposed to learn to love Me back, because I made you to love you and I know you. And I want you to know and love me back." Now, there’s a word for this. It’s a word we misunderstand so a lot of people don’t use it. It is the word “worship.” Worship is knowing and loving God back. Now, the problem is, that worship is misunderstood today. And when I say the word “worship,” what do you think of? Well, you may think of prayer. You may think of singing. But worship is far, far more than all those things.
[callout]Definition of Worship: Comes from Old English“Worth-ship”- denoting worthiness of an individual to receive special honor in accordance with that worth.[/callout]
Real worship doesn’t just happen in a church. It doesn’t even happen in a small group. It doesn’t even happen in your personal time of quiet time with God every day, of prayer and reading the bible. It happens in the ordinary, routine, mundane, things of real life where you go, “God, I’m going to take out the garbage for You.” You can make beds to the glory of God. You can milk a cow to the glory of God. You can clean your garage to the glory of God -- and some of you ought to! Everything can be turned into an act of worship if you go.
In Mark 12:28-31, the religious leader asked Jesus a trick question, but Jesus' answer was pure genius. First, instead of quoting one of the Ten Commandments, as his audience might have expected, he quoted from Deuteronomy 6:5 - very familiar words that framed a Jewish prayer, the Shema, which pious Jews recited twice daily.
Then Jesus added a second commandment, this time taken from Leviticus 19:18, indicating that genuine love for God involves seeing people as God sees them, and viewing all people, without exception, as objects of his unconditional love.
First, God wants me to love Him thoughtfully.
It says, “love Him with your mind. In other words, He wants you to think through, to not just do it without thinking. He wants you to worship Him thoughtfully, know and love Him thoughtfully.
Second, God wants me to love him passionately.
He says, “with all your heart and all your soul.” I want you to love Me passionately, because He passionately loves you.
And Third, He says, I want you to love me practically.
Practically. “love Me with all your strength”, with your abilities. You see, the truth is that even though God created the entire world and the universe and He created you. There are three things God does not have unless you give them to Him.
You want to completely change the way your worship God? Then start worshipping seven days a week with your mind - thoughtfully, with your heart - love him passionately, and practically - with all you are. Simple enough!
