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God is looking for passionate worshippers. He desires us to be such a people. In worship, we glorify God, enjoy Him and find our full satisfaction in Him. Eccl. 12:13 tells us to “fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the whole duty (or commission) of man”. Reverence for and submission to God are the underlying ideas of worship. Therefore, we must be a worshipping Church. Only then can we influence people to join us in the worship of God.
As we think of this commission, two questions come to mind. They are: “What is worship?” and “How can we cultivate and grow in worship?” On the first, we look to William Temple, one-time Archbishop of Canterbury for help. He said: “To worship is to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination with the beauty of God, to open the heart to the love of God and to devote the will to the purpose of God.” Essentially, worship is the engagement of our hearts, minds, souls and strength with the worthship of God – central in our Christian life. Everything else falls into place when worship is truly central in our individual and community lives. Our lives reflect a bold passion for God. Our hearts are broken before Him and yet filled with joy and hope. Our lifestyles adore all that He is, says and does. We are witnesses to a watching world.
For the second, we hear from Jesus who said in John 4:24 that “God is Spirit, and His worshippers must worship Him in spirit and in truth”. “God is Spirit” means that He is Omnipresent and can be worshipped anywhere and anytime. In addition, we worship Him with our total being “in the spirit” which He has quickened when we first believed in Jesus. Our worship must also be “in truth”. We worship God out of an understanding of His truth which the Bible has revealed. As God reveals to us more of His Person, Word and Work through the Bible, we will be filled with awe and love, and will respond in more worthy and adoring worship in humility. Indeed, when we worship God this way, He will grip our souls more and more. Worship will become as natural as breathing, and we will be able to continue growing in this commission in our present life.
