Our Bible studies for the past few months have been focused on the Disciples of Jesus  –  how they were chosen, how they were trained, and how their relationship with Jesus was formed.  During this study it is easily seen how racial and ethnic prejudices were founded.  I specifically want to address the division between the Jews and the Samaritans.  Both were devoutly religious groups but one of their major differences were where their sacred worship should take place.  The Samaritans believed the place of worship had to be Mt. Gerizim, while the Jews believed worship had to take place in Jerusalem.   Each group of “believers” stood firm on their interpretation of worship and where it must take place and with no deviation.

I wonder if today some of those same biased opinions are still prevalent in Christian society today!  If you really come to understand what true worship is, there could never be any dispute!!  When we look at the dictionary’s definition of worship we find that is intense love or admiration, adoration, reverence and homage.  However, truly defining worship becomes much broader when we recognize that it is not only an act but it is also an attitude.  We must be careful that worship is not generalized in the confines of religious rituals that take place only in a building.

Worship should be encompassed in every aspect of our lives.  Every day, every act, every decision should find its core in worship to God.  I have encountered countless people who struggle with “how” to worship God.  They observe others who worship with high emotion, those who lift their voices without restraint, some who exert every fiber of their being.  Yet there are others who worship God in total silence, the quietness of meditation or the serenity of sacred music.  

Is there a right way, wrong way, or one true way that God accepts? The answer is NO!  What pleases the Father is worship unto Him that is pure and sincere.  Your worship can only be pure and sincere if it originates from the truth of who you are.  When one attempts to mimic or duplicate someone else’s form of worship it ceases to be authentic.  When we find ourselves placing God as the central part of everything we do it transforms into worship.  If we simply ask the question, “is what I’m doing, thinking, or planning pleasing to God”?  If the answer is “yes”, then that is a form of worship!  If the answer is “no”, then we know it is impossible for that to worship God.  

The career we pursue should not be only for financial gain, but it should in some way glorify God and the abilities He has placed within us.  The spouse we desire to spend our lives with should give glory to God in the covenant of marriage and family.  Even our goals for health and fitness are to reflect the image of God in which we were created, knowing that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Ghost.  As we seek to do our best and be our best, it is our personal form of worship that exudes from the creation of God that we are.  If our priority is first to please God, that in and of itself is worship.  

We have the ability to worship wherever we are.  We don’t need music, a choir, a preacher, a religious scholar to “lead” us in worship.  Actions become hypocritical when we only give God worship in the four walls of a church.  Of course, it may seem a bit strange and unorthodox to walk down the street with arms lifted singing “Glory to God in the Highest”.  Sure, it would draw attention to ourselves, but it has the potential to cause more negative attention than positive.  How we live our lives, and how our lives affect others is how we can worship God and be His most effective witnesses.  Our genuine hearts and belief in the one true God is all we need to transform our actions and attitudes into the spirit of worship.

“But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers
shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth:  for the Father
seeketh such to worship him.”

“God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth.”
(St. John 4: 23, 24) KJV

Source: First Lady Denise