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What is the most important activity of life? I believe that it is worship. Our Creator made us for worship.
A practical Christian definition of worship is to love, honor and obey God. Worship is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary, in part, as “reverent love and devotion accorded a deity, an idol, or a sacred object.” The source of the word is an Old English compound word, worth-ship. It described the devotion and obedience that a knight offered to his sovereign. In kneeling down before the king, the knight would bow his head, offering the back of his neck to the king’s sword. In so doing the knight was visibly displaying to the king that his life would be forfeit if he failed to serve the king.
Worship is fundamentally about our primary relationship. It is about our relationship to God. God made us to worship Him.
But because of sin, we naturally seek to make our own gods to worship. The great reformer, John Calvin said this, “Every one of us is, from his mother’s womb, expert in inventing idols.”
Therefore, in view of man’s sinfulness, God, by His grace, declared that He alone was to be worshiped, Exodus 20:1-3. God said that His people were forbidden from bowing down to or serving any man-made image or likeness of God, Exodus 20:4-5. He declared that He is the Lord and besides Him there is no God, Isaiah 45:18. Further, any worship that is not based in God’s word is false and is idolatry, John 4:23-24.
The only object of true worship is the God who has revealed Himself in His word written and Word Incarnate, Jesus Christ. To make things even more direct, Jesus said that God the Father is the one who seeks worshipers, John 4. Even though we have been made to worship God, we substitute our own gods in place of the one true God.
The Apostle quoted the Psalms and wrote that no one seeks after God, Psalm 14:2; Romans 3:11. Even though God has made His existence plain for all to see by what He has made, men suppress the truth in unrighteousness. We are eager to fulfill our God-given desire to worship and often do so by erecting idols. Our idols are the things that control our lives.
Normally in evangelical Protestant churches, we don’t see people bowing down or serving carved images as part of their acts of worship and devotion. But, we must honestly reflect upon those things that we seem to value the most and serve. In other words we are loving, honoring and obeying things more than God.
However, when God is truly worshiped, the lordship of Christ is acknowledged by our submitting to His word. The words love, honor and obey are relational words that describe our primary relationship. In the primary relationship to God, He is the one who establishes the requirements for our relationship. Jesus said, “The hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship Him. God is spirit, and those who worship Him must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24
We all know that worship is not only a weekly event. Worship is what we do every moment, every day of our lives.
In applying the words of Jesus quoted above, God through the Apostle Paul, made the daily reality of worship clear to those who have experienced His saving grace. “I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1
Love, honor and obey Him.
Viewpoints
COLUMN: Love, honor and obey
- Viewpoints
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CNHI EDITORIAL: Seizure of AP phone records an insult to independent press
Distrust of government secrecy has been elevated to an exceptional level with the disclosure the Justice Department covertly examined two months of Associated Press phone records to determine who leaked details to the AP about a foiled terrorist plot.
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NOW HEAR THIS: ‘What we’ve got here is a failure to communicate’
This famous quote addressing communication failure is a classic line from the 1967 movie “Cool Hand Luke,” starring Paul Newman. Strother Martin, who played the role of the warden in a southern prison, would use this phrase every time he gave Luke a good whack with his baton. The concept resonated so well with moviegoers that it was voted No. 11 of the 100 all-time favorite movie quotes according to the American Film Institute.
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Letters to the Editor – May 19, 2013
Do you remember the “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED” sign that the personnel on the USS Abraham Lincoln displayed to greet President Bush when he went out to greet them?
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Guest opinion: Campaign with honor
All politics is local and personal! I hope that you and your family have a wonderful summer, filled with relationship building experiences and times of relaxation. As you do all the things that re-charge us for the next round at work and involvement in community and political activities, let’s reflect on the 2013 local elections for a moment.
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TISCIONE: Woe for calling evil good
You don’t often see “woe” used in an article. It’s a word that has fallen out of usage in our day. But it’s a word that ought to be understood and taken seriously.
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Letters to the Editor – May 17, 2013
As mercury pollution threatens our waterways and carbon pollution-fueled climate change worsens extreme weather, we need someone in Washington who knows how to get things done.
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Letters to the Editor – May 15, 2013
I just wanted to express my heartfelt thanks to the slobs, idiots and inconsiderate people who continually decorate the beautiful Texas landscape with their trash. I guess it’s really a form of art with beer bottles and cans, boxes, plastic drink containers, food packaging and just about anything else you can think of. It just doesn’t appeal to me. Thank you.
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NOW HEAR THIS: Not by the hairs of my chinny chin chin
I had never really considered this possibility, but every one of the Three Little Pigs was almost certainly a guy. I know that assumption is not particularly popular from an equal opportunity standpoint, but the fact is fairly certain. How do I know? They all three had hair on their chinny chin chins.
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ESTES: Securing a bright future for Texas
Texas businesses have created more than 500,000 jobs since November 2011. Our economy is growing nearly 50 percent faster than the rest of the country and our cost of living remains low.
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TISCIONE: ‘It’s not about me’
“It is good to give thanks to the LORD, to sing praises to your name, O Most High; to declare your steadfast love in the morning and your faithfulness by night.”
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