day 21: true worship

"therefore, i urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God - this is your spiritual act of worship."

romans 12:1

have you ever played a game involving word association - someone says a word and you immediately have to say what comes to mind? from childhood we develop associations with words. when we hear sky, we think blue. what comes to mind when you hear the word, worship? many of us immediately think songs, music, maybe even church (as in what you do on sunday morning). do any of us first associate worship with lifestyle?

don't get me wrong, singing songs, playing music, going to church are all acts of worship. but it certainly goes beyond that. "when we are walking with Christ, our lives are acts of worship all day every day." it is a lifestyle. nasser calls this 'walking worshipers'. he was once asked on a television program what he saw as the next trend in worship. i'm sure the one interviewing him was looking for something related to contemporary vs. traditional. wisely, david answered with authentic worship. authentic worship is what paul is referring to here in romans 12 but also what Jesus meant in john 4 when he said to the samaritan woman "'yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth'" (john 4:23).

we might be great sunday morning worshipers, at least based on appearances. i worship God not only as a sing but while i play the bass in the worship band. what does my worship look like the friday and saturday night before? do i worship well during the week, when no one else is watching? do i worship with the right motives all of the time?

Lord, you provide a guideline in your word of what worship should be. forgive me and correct me when i get it wrong - when i make worship about me. through the Holy Spirit, show me how to be a true worshiper.

(my apologies for writing this blog one day late. i did my reading and such yesterday but ran out of time to blog. i will make up for it and write two today.)