Let the words of my mouth, and the meditation of my heart, be acceptable in thy sight, O Lord, my strength, and my redeemer. Psalm 19:14 (KJV)Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
Psalm 139:23 (NIV)
I'm sure that we would all say that we want our hearts, our words and our very thoughts to be acceptable to God. In order to ensure that, we need to be careful about our actions, what we say, and the things we think about when we attend worship services. Every so often we should examine our hearts and ask ourselves some hard questions like:
Why do I go to church? To worship? To learn more about God's Word? Or maybe just to socialize? Could I be going just because it's a habit or the Sunday thing to do? What am I expecting when I worship? Is it all about what I like? Am I always complaining and saying things to myself like: "I really don't like this particular song", "I wish the guitar or drums weren't so loud", "So and so prays too long","I wish the pastor wouldn't bore me with all these historical details and Greek words and stuff", "Look at what she's wearing!", "I think we sing too many songs", etc.?
Worship is not about all those things. It's not about what we want or what we can get out of it. It's about what we put into it and what our true motives are. It's about the One we worship. We need to focus our attention on Almighty God not on petty things that don't amount to a "hill of beans" as the old saying goes. There's a fitting worship song we sing here at the Ridge called "The Heart Of Worship" by Matt Redman. The lyrics say it better than I can:
King of endless worth, no one could express how much You deserve.
Though I'm weak and poor, all I have is yours, every single breath.
I'll bring You more than a song for a song in itself
is not what You have required.
You search much deeper within through the way things appear.
You're looking into my heart.
I'm coming back to the heart of worship,
and it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus.
I'm sorry Lord for the thing I've made it,
when it's all about You, it's all about You, Jesus.
Why are we really attending the worship service in the first place? Is it because of what we want to do, or is it because of what He's done for us? Let's turn away from our routine of church as usual, just going through the motions one more Sunday morning while we're thinking about what we're gonna have for lunch. I wonder what Jesus thinks when we let our minds wander and don't focus our attention on Him. We should set our mind's eye on the One we're supposed to be worshiping. Worship should be all about Jesus, not about us at all.
Joey C.
Why are we really attending the worship service in the first place? Is it because of what we want to do, or is it because of what He's done for us? Let's turn away from our routine of church as usual, just going through the motions one more Sunday morning while we're thinking about what we're gonna have for lunch. I wonder what Jesus thinks when we let our minds wander and don't focus our attention on Him. We should set our mind's eye on the One we're supposed to be worshiping. Worship should be all about Jesus, not about us at all.
Joey C.