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God's heart is for the nations to come to worship Him. We
see this desire expressed throughout His Word:
"All the earth will worship
You, and will sing praises to You; they will sing praises to Your
name." -Psalm 66:4
"God be gracious to us and bless
us, and cause His face to shine upon us--that Your way may be known
on the earth, Your salvation among all nations. Let the peoples
praise you, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. Let the
nations be glad and sing for joy; for you will judge the peoples with
uprightness and guide the nations on the earth. Let the peoples
praise You, O God; Let all the peoples praise You. The earth
has yielded its produce; God, our God, blesses us. God blesses
us, that all the ends of the earth may fear Him. -Psalm 67
“Turn to Me and be saved, all the
ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other.”
–Isaiah 45:22
“but you will receive power when
the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both
in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest
part of the earth.” –Acts 1:8
“For the grace of God has appeared,
bringing salvation to all men.” –Titus 2:11
Worship isn’t merely singing hymns or songs that rock on
Sunday morning. Worship is giving praise to God whether through
corporate worship (singing at church) or how you choose to live your
life. Paul challenges us in Romans 12 to offer our lives as
living sacrifices by not following every whim of our flesh but
submitting to the authority of God’s lordship in our lives.
Obeying all that he has commanded us; doing this not out of
obligation or fear of His power; but submitting to His Lordship out
of your Love for God. Worship begins in the heart.
John Piper states in his book, Let The Nations Be Glad,
“The zeal of the church for the glory of her King will not rise
until... [we] make much more of the King... then the people might
begin to feel that He is the central reality of [our] lives and that
the spread of his glory is more important than all [our] possessions
and all [our] plans.” Until Jesus is the center of
everything we are, our zeal for Him will not be enough. We are
to live our lives in such a way that when others see us, they will be
drawn to join us in our worship.
Right now, think of how you have been worshiping God through the
choices you make and how you live your life. Are your choices
giving Him glory? Does your lifestyle honor Him and point
others toward God? What changes do you need to make in order
that when people see you they will want to worship with you?
Next Sunday, if you don’t normally do so, I challenge you to
meditate on the words as you sing to your King. What are you
promising Him as you sing? What attributes of His character are
you magnifying? What has He done for you that you are thanking
Him for? Focus on who God is and if you need to, close your
eyes so that your surroundings don’t distract you from Him.
Do what you need to bring Him more glory in your corporate
worship. Do what you need to bring Him more glory in your
lifestyle and choices.
“Now may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely; and
may your spirit and soul and body be preserved complete, without
blame at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Faithful is He
who calls you, and He also will bring it to pass.” –1
Thessalonians 5:23-24 |
