“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” -1 Corinthians 13:8
We are told that prophecy, tongues and knowledge will pass away. We can be sure that signs, wonders and miracles will one day also cease.
The greatest supernatural manifestations that we eagerly seek after (and sometimes witness) will one day lose their breath and power, but love is eternal.
Love will still be in Heaven after everything else on Earth is gone.
There’s actually very little that passes from this world into the next. Love is one thing that does; worship is another.
Worship takes on many expressions.
Some may say that real worship is more about how we live than what we say, and while this may be true, the Bible is literally filled with calls to worship God with songs, shouts, prayers and praise!
“Oh come, let us sing for joy to Yahweh, Let us make a loud shout to the rock of our salvation. Let us come before His presence with thanksgiving, Let us make a loud shout to Him with songs of praise. Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before Yahweh our Maker.” -Psalm 95:1,6
For the purpose of this post I will be referring to worship in the context of speaking and singing.
To be frank, this post was inspired through experiences I’ve had while gathered together with God’s people. I have often wondered why we are so quick to run out of the presence of God in worship!
- Why do many churches sing a couple songs and move on to preaching right away?
- Why do people gather together in homes for prayer and worship but inevitably start blurting out prayer requests before settling into the presence of God?
- Why are we not encouraged to linger and take all the time in the world to be with Him?
- If it’s God we’re after why are we so quick to rush out of His presence?
- Why does it seem that a great many things in the church are more highly esteemed than worship?
It’s my conviction that worship is one of the most important things that we can ever do in our relationship with God.
I’m afraid, however, that worship is the alabaster jar of fragrant perfume that if poured out extravagantly will be considered by many to be a waste.
We may find 10,000 things in the church to do that we consider more important than worship, but how does God see it?
How important is worship to God?
If you want to see the importance that God places on worship, then understand that it is something we do here that continues right into Heaven, goes on for eternity, and never stops!
“And the four living creatures, each of them with six wings, are full of eyes all around and within, and day and night they never cease to say, “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God Almighty, who was and is and is to come!” And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever.” -Revelation 4:8-11
The worship of God is not an afterthought, it is the whole occupation of Heaven! It is not merely a preparation for preaching, it is the whole reason we live!
“In order that we who were the first to hope in Christ might be for the praise of his glory!” -Ephesians 1:12
In worship I pour out my love. I take all that I am and pour it out on Him because He is like no other. He alone is God and I adore Him. Every facet of His nature causes me to be in awe and draws my heart toward His.
In worship I express sheer delight in the lover of my soul. Through worship I enter into the most intimate union. Worship is when Jesus becomes my Song of Songs and He is all I can think of, all I can see, all I can sing.
In worship I am made aware of the infinite greatness of God and His unfathomable power and there rises within me an inexpressible glory and joy that this God is MY GOD!
If you are tempted to think that worship is just one of the many things that we do as the church, I tell you, it is THE THING we were created for.
Do you believe that worship is merely a matter of opening a hymn book or looking at a screen and singing some songs? I can only say, if that is what you think, you have no idea what worship is at all!
“We have beheld his glory, glory as of the only begotten of the Father…” -1 John 1:14
Is it possible for you to “behold His glory”, for that verse to actually happen in your life, without completely losing yourself in worship? I can’t imagine it! Everything is swallowed up by the glory of God including yourself. He becomes all you can see and all you want to see!
Are you able to stand on Holy Ground as Moses did and have no inclination to worship? I hardly think so! When you are truly aware of Him you will worship, there’s nothing else you can do!!
The essence of who God is draws forth worship!
I often wonder why people are so quick to run out of His presence when being in His presence is what Heaven is all about.
Is not the longing of your heart to behold Him as He is and worship Him forever? Could there be anything more sublime, more wonderful than that??
“One thing I have asked of the LORD; this is what I desire: to dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the LORD and seek Him in His temple.” -Psalms 27:4
I have to think that if you are quick to run out of His presence it is because you are not really engaged.
Worship is all about engagement
The reality of who He is drives me to respond. How can I hold myself at a distance from one so wonderful? Why would I ever want to leave His presence? Is there something better for me to do than be with Him? Something more enjoyable??
When you fail to engage with Him, worship is no longer worship. If you’re quick to leave His presence it’s because you never really got close enough to see who you’re with!
When I tell people that I love to worship I’m sure that many think that I’m just talking about singing. Although singing is certainly a part of it, that’s not what I’m talking about at all!
When I worship I am engaged with Him.
I’ve heard some say that it doesn’t matter what we receive when we’re in worship. They tell us that worship is all about God and it’s not about us, and it doesn’t matter how we feel or what we receive, or anything like that. All I can tell you is that if you ever really worship God it will thrill your heart! He is not an austere God who sits back and coldly receives our praise. When you worship Him, He will engage with you! When you pour yourself out upon Him, He will pour Himself out upon you. How joyful are the worshipers of God!
“In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” -Psalm 16:11
I could go on about this but suffice to say that worship has to do with engagement. It has to do with your heart wanting to connect and engage with His.
Worship is the language of a burning heart for God.
Worship is an act of engagement. When the alabaster jar of perfume was broken and poured out on Jesus it literally came in contact with Him. It was not only that it’s fragrance filled the room, it literally made His skin wet. In her act of worship she made contact and He felt the oinment run down over His feet!
“As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.” -Luke 7:38
- His feet were wet with her tears.
- He felt the hair of her head fall upon them to brush them dry.
- Her lips touched His skin and He knew her kiss.
- The flow of her perfume ran over His feet.
- He inhaled the fragrance of her love.
Worship is all about engagement. Never think that anything less than this is worship.
Worship is easy in Heaven
Worship is easy in Heaven because there is a clear view of God. The clearer the view the higher the worship. Worship is directly proportional to how clearly we see Him.
How I love the Word of God! it reveals Jesus Christ and unfolds the mysteries of God to my soul. It unveils the glory of who He is and expands my vision of Him. I don’t read it to amass knowledge. I’m not interested in dissecting God like a bug. It was not given to me by God for scholastic pursuit. He’s after my heart and I’m after His. This is the pursuit of love.
“The one who thinks he knows something does not yet know as he ought to know. But the one who loves God is known by God.” -1 Corinthians 8:2
Isn’t it wonderful that love attracts God’s attention? He notices the one who loves Him! It’s not the person who is stuffed with knowledge that He’s drawn to, but the one who loves Him is known by Him.
I say this not to disparge your desire for the knowledge of God, but only to say that the reason we desire to learn of Him is so that we may love Him more.
The heart of God is that even a child who knows very little may nevertheless enter into the intimacy of worship BECAUSE OF LOVE.
A pure heart filled with love for Him will carry you straight into His presence!
“Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”. -Matthew 5:8
How wonderful to have a pure heart and a desire to engage with God!
Worship in Time and Eternity
Worship did not have its beginnings in time, its origins are not of the Earth.
“And all the angels were standing around the throne and the elders and the four living creatures, and they fell on their faces before the throne and worshiped God…” -Revelation 7:11
When God was creating the universe angels were worshiping Him!!
“When the stars came into being, all of my angels praised me with a great voice.” -Job 38:7 (Septuagint)
Before the world was ever formed, before human beings ever existed, there were angels worshiping God!
The nature of God calls forth worship to such an extent that when the Pharisees wanted to silence the worship of an adoring people, Jesus said that if they failed to worship even the rocks would cry out and give Him praise!
“I tell you,” He answered, “if they remain silent, the very stones will cry out.” -Luke 19:40
If even stones would gladly cry out and worship God what does it say about your heart if you take no joy in it?
Worship goes on forever
I started this post by saying that I have often been bewildered by how little value we place on worship. I was grieved in my spirit about it and was voicing my concerns to the Lord. He answered me by bringing me to the passage I started this post with…
“Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away.” -1 Corinthians 13:8
He was the one that pointed out to me that all the supernatural stuff that we clamor for will one day pass away. All these things that we’re so infatuated with are going to cease. And that’s when He pointed out to me that loves goes on after this world ends, and so does worship.
OUR WORSHIP Of GOD WILL GO ON FOREVER.
That says something to me about the importance that God places on worship.