We were created by God to worship. It comes naturally to all of us. We will worship someone or something. We were meant to worship God but because of sin and the fact that God created with a free will we can choose to worship anything we want. Since the very beginning the great controversy between good and evil has been about worship. Who will you worship? What are you willing to give your life for? What would absolutely crush your will to live if it was taken away from you? Answering these questions can help you identify who or what you worship. This isn’t a small issue. It is THE issue. God is the only one who should be worshipped by us. Unfortunately, sinful human beings find their pleasure in places other than in God.The Definition of Worship
One definition of worship as found in the Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament is as follows: To express in attitude or gesture one’s complete dependence on or submission to a high authority figure. As we worship God we recognize that he is our Creator and we are his creatures. We are dependent on him for everything. Our very lives depend totally on his watch care. He is in control of all things including our lives. When we worship God we recognize that everything that we own belongs ultimately to God. He is worthy of praise for what he has done for us through Jesus. He is worthy to be worshipped as the one true God.
If good things happen to us it is because of God. If bad things happen to us it is permitted by God either to teach us something or to bring glory to God through the way we trust and depend on Him through our trial. God uses every experience in our life as a teaching moment. No matter how bad an experience we’ve had in our life God will overrule it for good in the end. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” – Romans 8:28. We won’t always know the purpose this side of heaven. We won’t always have an answer as to why something happened but we can trust that God will work in spite of and sometimes because bad things happen to us and our loved ones.
Is God the Ruler of Your Life?
If we don’t recognize God’s sovereign claim on our lives we will fall into false worship. We naturally take our happiness into our own hands instead of trusting God with it. If we are down we go buy some new clothes. If we are feeling sad we might reach for our music. If we need a pick me up we might reach for some alcohol. We are at the end of our money so we work longer hours or take on a second job. Our wife is driving us crazy so we tune her out in front of the television watching our favorite sports team. Our husband is not meeting our emotional needs so we start binge eating to fill the pain inside. All of these examples and more happen because we are seeking our happiness in things and in control instead of in God. God wants us to let go and to trust Him. We want to reserve control to ourselves and our things.
Anything you use to deal with your circumstances that isn’t prayer and Bible study is very likely replacing the trust, security and peace we should be getting from God. Whatever that thing is in our life, it is an idol. There is only one thing you should do with an idol. Confess your sin to God and then seek to remove the idol from your life unless the idol is another human being. If you’ve put your husband, wife, child or parent on a pedestal instead of God, you need to confess it to God and ask God to help you release that person to His guidance instead of yours. Whether your idol is a person or a thing you need to put God before it all. Will you follow what He asks of you no matter what it will cost you?
If you will take this journey you will find peace, joy and happiness. While the world may not understand, you will have your reward in the world to come and happiness in this world through the indwelling Holy Spirit.