I wish to encourage you to evaluate who’s at the heart of your worship
The first 3 of the 10 commandments found in Exodus 20:3-6, relate to worship of the one true God. Sadly, this world has scored a triple failure. However, for those of us who profess belief in God through faith in Jesus Christ, there exists a staggering opportunity to get it right by God’s evaluation.
As lovers of the Lord, our part is to “Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendour of holiness” (Psalms 29:2). While as Christians, our holiness varies, but the Lord is spectacularly consistent in every expression of His pure character.
A glimpse of heaven
From the pen of the apostle John, we get a glimpse into the throne room of heaven, where the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders are continuously in worship. They perpetually declare; “Holy, holy, holy”… “Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honour and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:8-11).
The prophet Isaiah, having seen the same heavenly scene as John, concluded; “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” (Isaiah 6:5). You see, anyone who has accurately perceived the supernal beauty and uncompromising purity of the Lord, is confronted with the horrors of personal short-comings, personal sin!
The world’s response
While the world uses our Lord’s name as a blasphemous swear word, we “continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name” (Hebrews 13:15). We love Him, we serve Him, and we strive to obey Him more and more. We speak well of the Saviour whenever we can. Why, because through trust in Jesus Christ’s death in your place on the cross, “you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God” (1 Corinthians 6:11).
With that said; it’s ironic how easy it is to worship our experience of worship, more than worship the Lord. The church at Colossi had this very problem. So the apostle Paul cautioned them; “Let no one disqualify you, insisting on asceticism (Rigorous self-denial) and worship of angels, going on in detail about visions, puffed up without reason by his sensuous mind” (Colossians 2:18). Paul understood mankind’s selfish tendency of making worship about our experience of God and not about God Himself. It may be the size of the crowd, the impressiveness of the light show, the quality of the sound system, the various ways people freely express themselves, the use of technology, any one of many things, yet still not be worship of God.
The Christian’s response
In genuine worship, we focus on Jesus Christ; we surrender our allegiance to the Lord of heaven and earth, we praise (speak well of) the Saviour. We yield control of our lives to the filling of the Holy Spirit. We proclaim Christ’s glories, declaring the significance of God’s virtues. We testify to His accomplishments as Lord God Almighty. We happily do this at the exclusion of self, in order that the Lord receives pure, unmixed praise and exaltation. “I will bless the LORD at all times; his praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul makes its boast in the LORD; let the humble hear and be glad. Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!” (Psalms 34:1-3).