BY DR. LUYANDO SIMUNYAMA
Just for a moment pause, re-read and think through this statement again, “God is most glorified in you when you are most satisfied in Him”…
The above statement is one of the most influential statement in my life and has come to summarize so great the truth of how we can relate to so a great God.
Now you may ask, what has that got to do with worship? To most of us, worship is that time during the church service when the praise or choir team starts singing slow, heart moving songs about God. To others, it’s the time of the service when choir leaders say statements like, “now it’s time to worship God,just close your eyes and worship Him, don’t look at your neighbor ,just worship. Cry your heart out to Him”
To have such a view about Worship is to have a distorted view and luck a profound understanding to so rich an act. Worship is more than just songs poured out at a specific time within a church service or prayer time at home.Worship is a lifestyle as it is commonly defined. Worship is giving God the best that He has given you (Oswald chambers). Worship is glorifying God, God is all we are and do.
So how do we bring Glory to God? John piper beautifully puts it this way, we glorify God by:
· Knowing God accurately in our thoughts.
· Enjoying Him intensely in our emotions.
· And reflecting Him consistently in our actions.
This is worship friends. As the apostle Paul perfectly described it in Romans 12:1-2
“I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God to present your bodies as a living and holy sacrifice acceptable to God which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing of your mind that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable, or well pleasing and perfect.”
The passage before us contains all the facets of worship as exegized by “Got questions”.
First, there is the motivation to worship: “the mercies of God.” God’s mercies are everything He has given us that we don’t deserve: eternal love, eternal grace, the Holy Spirit, everlasting peace, eternal joy, saving faith, comfort, strength, wisdom, hope, patience, kindness, honor, glory, righteousness, security, eternal life, forgiveness, reconciliation, justification, sanctification, freedom, intercession and much more. The knowledge and understanding of these incredible gifts motivate us to pour forth praise and thanksgiving—in other words, worship!
Also, in the passage is a description of the manner of our worship: “present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice.” Presenting our bodies means giving to God all of ourselves. The reference to our bodies here means all our human faculties, i.e. our thoughts, emotions and actions—are to be presented to God.
But how? Again, the passage is clear: “by the renewing of your mind.” We renew our minds daily by cleansing them from the world’s “wisdom” and replacing it with true wisdom that comes from God. One from the Holy Scriptures. Jesus added to this when He directed the woman at the well on how to truly worship God…“ But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him” (John 4:23).
True worship must be “in spirit,” that is, engaging the whole heart. Unless there’s a real passion for God, there is no worship in spirit. At the same time, worship must be “in truth,” that is, properly informed. Unless we have knowledge of the God we worship, there is no worship in truth. Both are necessary for satisfying and God-honoring worship. Spirit without truth leads to a shallow, overly emotional experience that could be compared to a high. As soon as the emotion is over, when the fervor cools, so does the worship. Truth without spirit can result in a dry, passionless encounter that can easily lead to a form of joyless legalism. The best combination of both aspects of worship results in a joyous appreciation of God informed by Scripture. The more we know about God, the more we appreciate Him. The more we appreciate, the deeper our worship, The deeper our worship, the more God is glorified.
GOD IS MOST GLORIFIED IN US WHEN WE ARE MOST SATISFIED IN HIM. Let your life be that intertwined with God glorifying thoughts, emotions and action.
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