The title of this piece could be a loaded question. Worshiping God can encompass many things. The general definition of the word “worship” is essentially having and expressing reverent love and devotion to a deity, idol, or sacred object; including participation in ceremonies, prayers, or other religious rites; performing an act of worship. In terms of the definition given, as Christians, worshiping God should be our lifestyle. So to answer the question, we worship because we love Jesus. Answering that was a lot easier than you might have thought, right? Well, not exactly. Let’s break it down a little bit.
Let us look at the definition in full. The definition is divided into two parts—noun and verb. Let’s take the noun into consideration first. The actual noun portion of the definition according to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language is this:
1. a. the reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object;
b. the ceremonies, prayers, or other religious forms by which this love is expressed.
2. Ardent devotion; adoration.
So we see that the first part of worshiping God is having or posessing love and adoration for Him. And of course, in order to love Him we must first know Him. Our relationship to God is similar to a love relationship between a man and woman. The more I spend time with and know my wife, the more love I have for her. As our knowledge of God grows, our love for Him grows as well. As we are becoming more knowledgeable of the Father, what is actually happening is He is revealing more of Himself to us. The more we see of Him, the more we realize the incomprehensible attributes which are His very nature. This is what God was saying when He spoke to Moses from the burning bush.
“I AM WHO I AM and WHAT I AM, and I WILL BE WHAT I WILL BE.” (Exodus 3:14 Amplified)
Jehovah God is the very essence of the words we typically use to describe Him—holy, merciful, gracious, good. While we as men are able to perform acts of holiness, mercy, grace, and goodness, God is holy. He is mercy. He is grace. He is good. As we know God more in this way, how can we do anything but love Him more? However, it is not sufficient to have loved only. Our love must be expressed. This brings us to the verb portion of the word ‘worship’.
Let’s refer again to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language to define the verb. There are two parts to the verb also—the transitive and the intransitive. (These are grammatical terms we have all heard in school, but likely did not commit them to memory. It is still quite plain, however.)
Transitive verb
1. To honor and love as a deity.
2. To regard with ardent or adoring esteem or devotion.
Intransitive verb
1. To participate in religious rites of worship.
2. To perform an act of worship.
True worship requires participation. You have to do it. To use the age-old expression, you can tell someone ‘I love you’ as much as you like, but if you never show love by action, what evidence is there to prove the love exists? Our daily life should be continuous worship unto God (see Romans 12:1), expressed through action. Jesus said, “If you really love Me, you will keep (obey) My commands” (John 14:15). If we show the love of Jesus by feeding the hungry or clothing the naked, then we have shown our love to Him (see Matthew 26:40). We accept Jesus as Lord by believing in our hearts (an inward showing), then confessing with our mouth (an outward display). God knows our hearts, but if we never confess Him with our mouth, how will the world know that we love Him? If we truly love, the expression of it will come naturally.
This concludes Part I of "Why Worship?". I will post Part II in the next couple of weeks. This should get you thinking for the time being. Hopefully this first portion will challenge you to begin to look at your own personal worship time in a different light.
