SeriousWorship

Read Isaiah 28-29
 
Isaiah 29:13-14 And so the Lord says, “These people say they are mine. They honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. And their worship of me is nothing but man-made rules learned by rote. 14 Because of this, I will once again astound these hypocrites with amazing wonders. The wisdom of the wise will pass away, and the intelligence of the intelligent will disappear.”
 
“WORSHIP” must define our essential relationship with God. We are created. He is Creator. We worship him, giving praise, honor, obedience and love to the One who has given us life. That is God’s will for our lives.
   But sometimes our hearts are not focused. Our worship time may cease to be relational to become a ritual. The church creates “worship rules” with good intentions for a unified expression of love toward God. But the guiding rules – “Sit. Stand. Pray. Confess. Give Thanks. Sing.” can become meaningless if we forget why we are in church.  
   God is very serious about worship. To put God anywhere but on our highest heart level is to diminish who he is. From Cain and Abel in Genesis, God has required his people to approach him with a sense of awe, a commitment to sacrifice, and a heart to honor him. God says so in the first three commandments: Exodus 20:3 “You must not have any other god but me. 4 You must not make for yourself an idol of any kind or an image of anything in the heavens or on the earth or in the sea. 5 You must not bow down to them or worship them…7 You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God.”  This is God’s covenant law to direct his people toward him. He formed Israel to be his people. Praising, honoring, obeying and loving God was to be their highest priority. But Israel failed. They began to worship their own creation. As a result, heir misdirected worship was at the center of God’s judgment: 2 Kings 17:7 This disaster came upon the people of Israel because they worshiped other gods. God ultimately judged this violation of the first three commandments with Israel’s dispersion and Judah’s exile.
   How is your worship as an individual and as a church? We use “worship” often in the church. Worship service, worship music, worship time are a few. “Worship” has come to refer to the time of singing praise songs.
          But the Bible instructs us that worship time is all the time. When we worship God, we daily live with a thankful heart for our life in Christ. A worship time is when you can be silent to open your mind to receive God’s Word. To worship is to obey his precious teachings and know his vital commands. Worship is also time to speak and sing praise, thanksgiving, petitions and confessions. Worship is your heart’s joyful approach to God. Worship is a personal relationship that helps you know, desire and love God. Be serious about worship. It must be your heart’s true response to the God who has redeemed you.