Rest in Worship
The journey of knowing and worshiping God continues to amaze me. God is so great and gracious to invite us into His presence and to deepen our heart knowledge of Him
As I’ve said elsewhere, based John 4:23 and Romans 12:1,2, worship can be thought of in two different categories. One is the “spirit and truth” worship Jesus talked about. Here we draw near to Him and intimately express our deepest adoration (kiss). This definition comes from the Greek word "proskuneo." It assumes we take the time to bask in His presence in repentance and rest -rest in who He is and in what He’s done for us. We are to take time for this every day and with other believers. It’s an attitude of the heart we should carry throughout the day.
The Romans 12 word for worship, "latreian", is worship expressed in service for Him. It’s a response of transformed activity for Him. It’s the offering of our lives on the altar not in order to be accepted by Him, but rather because we are accepted by Him. We’ve been set free to worship Him through what we do, for His glory.
Both responses call us to a rhythm of intimate “being with Jesus" and “doing with Jesus.” And as we move out in service we should carry with us the intimacy of fellowship with Him - the posture of “spirit and truth" worship.
How does this effect our service?
For one thing, it should make us stand out from those who are not in the posture of authentic worship. This is what makes Christians distinct from non-believers - our worship of God in spirit and truth. It’s the same type of distinctiveness to which Israel was called. (Ex33:16) God’s presence should accompany all we do.
We move into the world:
• resting and delighting in the knowledge of who God is in all circumstances, trusting Him completely. You may not, or perhaps should not be praising Him all the time verbally, but certainly internally, in the attitude of your heart, you should carry an attitude of rejoicing in God.• resting in the knowledge of who we are in Him. The gospel has made us new creations and we can rest in Him, making steps to become who He’s already declared us to be through Christ.
• standing firm in the freedom (and selflessness) God has given us to serve others on His behalf
We don’t:
• take on other’s views of God or allow our circumstances to define who God is. Only let the Scriptures define who he is.• look to our service (work) to define us, fill us, or complete us - we rest in what He’s done for us through Christ.
• compare ourselves or our accomplishments with others in order to define our success or feel good about ourselves. We pursue what God has called us to and seek faithfulness to Him.
• strive to “be someone” in the world - we serve as bondservants of Christ for His kingdom purposes, leaving the results to Him!
When we let attitudes like these invade our lives we cease worshiping God in spirit and truth. We cease the intimacy and rest God wants for us. God wants us to walk in the freedom of a new heart and restored soul. Not the tyranny of the world’s opinions which say we must perform in order to be someone. As I’ve said before, the world says, “do” and then you’ll be someone. God says, “done” - you are someone, my child - now “do" something. Do you see the freedom in this?
Oh, how we need to rest in Him and what He’s done. How our minds need to be re-programmed to let God define and lead our lives. The practice of comparing, competing and letting others (the media, our educators, our family, maybe even other believers) define our success for us is deadly to our freedom and worship. It’s a battle against the flesh, the world, and the devil.
So, let me encourage you to guard your time of intimacy with God. Let your mind be renewed in the truth of who God is and what He says about you.
Let’s put practices into our lives that enable us to maintain authentic worship in all we do. And let all we do be for His glory alone - to quote Johann Bach, “Soli Deo Gloria”
Lord, let me rest in who You are and in who I am in You, as I serve You daily!
Archives
Old blog posts can be found here.April 2024
June 2019
March 2019
November 2018
October 2018