When Worshiping God Comes First

“God is trying to call us back to that which He created us – to worship Him and enjoy him forever – A.W. Tozer

If we look at God’s kingdom with our logic it seems backwards. The Bible tells us to love our enemies and pray for those who persecute us. Live your life as a servant and that the last shall be first. The world however, tells us pursue happiness and work hard to get all that you can get in this life.  Even though I have been a Christian for most my life it took me a long time to learn that the more I pursued happiness the less I found it. The more I tried to control my life the more I lost control.

“When the emphasis of our lives is on happiness, we begin to ride an emotional roller coaster that goes up and down with the circumstances of life. But when we place our emphasis on worshiping God and becoming more like Jesus we can thank God in everything that happens; trusting Him that these events will make us more like Christ, which will bring glory to God….” Gary M. Mathena

Sadly much of the western church has made the Gospel about, “me.” The focus of the Christian walk has become more about about finding personal happiness and success rather than a life lived for God’s glory. It is when we die to ourselves we really find life, happiness and success according to God’s kingdom. That is a joy and a success that is greater than our circumstances of this world.

Then he said to them all, “If anyone wants to follow after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of me will save it – Luke 9:23-24 (CSB)

A Better View of Worship

As someone who grew up in the church it is easy for me to think of, “Worship” as the song service at church or singing of songs during a personal prayer time at home. Granted singing is a component of worship but worship is more about how we position all of our life.  Suddenly when we do all things to bring glory to God all aspects of our life becomes worship.

• Family – we serve our family members as though we are serving Jesus himself and we seek to be a light to lead them to Christ.

• Work – I know our jobs can be a real struggle but it changes our perspective when we work to excel at our daily jobs. Instead of working for the boss we might not like we work as though we were working for Jesus.

• Ministry / service – We are called to live a life of service. Ministry does not need to be complicated. I just did a funeral for a friend. His family told me stories of how he would mow the lawn of his neighbor, who was a widow, without being asked. The week before he died he was in the hospital. And one day he spent time praying with one of his nurses. He saw life better lived serving others even when he was suffering.

Whatever you do, do it from the heart, as something done for the Lord and not for people,  knowing that you will receive the reward of an inheritance from the Lord. You serve the Lord Christ.  – Colossians 3:23-24 (CSB)

No this will not make our life perfect and neat. The life of faith is often messy. But our circumstances tell us a lie and keeps us from seeing the truth of a life fully lived for God.

It is not easy but we should strive to live all aspects of our life as worship to God. Then we will find a life more filled with his peace and joy no matter what circumstances we must face.

The Gary M. Mathena quote and the A.W. Tozer quote are from Mathena’s book, One Thing Needful: An Invitation to the Study of Worship

Photo by Ben White on Unsplash

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About the Author: Jon Stallings

I am enthusiastic about helping others discover their purpose and grow into a deeper relationship with Jesus. It is great to see their eyes light up at their “Ah Ha!” moment when they discover they were created for something more. My hope is that this blog will help encourage and inspire you along your way. Join the conversation and take the time to share with me your own story. I have been married to my beautiful wife Janice for over 30 years. We currently live in McDonough Georgia with our daughter. Our two boys have left the nest and we have two wonderful grand kids. Of course we cannot forget about our dog Bear.