What
In The world Is Worship?
While
we might be somewhat familiar with the word, “worship” is an idea that easily
brings misunderstanding. For those who
are new to church, they often think of it as something mystical similar to
chanting, meditation, or even a lost state of consciousness reserved for an
extremely religious person. For those
familiar with church, their thoughts can simply limit worship to an isolated
singing segment at a service involving a few minutes of our week’s 168 hours.
The
truth is, worship is more than meets the eye.
Merriam-Webster defines worship
as, “to regard with great or extravagant respect, honor, or devotion.” Or simply put, worship is the “worth-ship” of something or someone. We all assign worth to those things around us
and like your handy palm pilot or daytime scheduler, put them in a particular
priority.
Someone
once said, “The question is not whether
you worship, but who or what you worship.”
Everyone worships and each of us will decide what the object of our
worship will be. The smitten young man
in love says, “I worship the ground she walks on,” while the love-sick girl
says, “I simply adore him.” Both reveal
attitudes of devotion and hearts that have been captivated by another.
Simply
put, worship has to do with the thing that we find ourselves preoccupied with
most of the time. It might be a car,
money, a house, a person, sport, or a job.
While you may not sing about it or them, it is nonetheless something
that is regarded with great or extravagant respect. It gets hold of your heart and you can think
about little else.
Gordon
Dahl once wrote, “Most middle-class Americans tend to worship their work, work
at their play, and play at their worship.”
In other words, we will give great passion and effort to some things,
and not to others, whether that is our careers, our relationships, our leisure
and even God Himself. When we choose what we worship, we choose
what will dictate the direction of our whole lives.
Bertoldo
de Giovanni is a name even the most enthusiastic lover of art is unlikely to
recognize. He was the pupil of
Donatello, the greatest sculptor of his time, and he was the teacher of Michelangelo,
the greatest sculptor of all time.
Michelangelo was only 14 years old when he came to Bertoldo, but it was
already obvious that he was enormously gifted.
Bertoldo was wise enough to realize that gifted people are often tempted
to coast rather than grow, and therefore he kept trying to pressure his young
prodigy to work seriously at his art.
One
day, he came into the studio to find Michelangelo toying with a piece of
sculpture far beneath his abilities.
Bertoldo grabbed a hammer, stomped across the room, and smashed the work
to tiny pieces, shouting this unforgettable message, “Michelangelo, talent is
cheap; dedication is costly!”
The
Bible says in Romans 12:1, “Make a
decisive dedication of your lives to God as a living sacrifice, holy and well
pleasing, which is your reasonable (intelligent) and spiritual worship.” In other words, worship isn’t just about
music, an event, a feeling, a performance, or confined to just one day a
week…it’s a lifestyle. Since we are made
to last forever, it’s an investment that’s truly worth it.
Terry
Risser
Consider reading the Word today:
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