What comes to mind when you think of worshiping God? Do you see yourself in church, hands raised, singing praises to the King? Maybe you see yourself listening intently to your pastor or Bible study leader, soaking in every syllable about Christ. Do you see yourself serving in the nursery or helping a neighbor in need? You may even see yourself taking excellent care of your body to better be of service to those around you.
Now think to yourself how easy it is for that worship to be shifted from God to yourself. It is all too easy. We get focused on the way we sound and look when worshiping in song. We pride ourselves on never missing a church service. We easily get puffed up about all the good deeds we do for those around us. We even begin to focus on how much better we look in the mirror from taking care of our bodies instead of focusing on serving God who created us and our ability to take care of ourselves.
We all struggle in this area. We start out with good intentions, and before long, we are totally focused on ourselves instead of the One who we started out worshipping. What do we do when catch ourselves going down the path of self-worship?
Let’s take a look at what worship looks like from the standpoint of the Bible. Worship is the inner frame of mine and our outer expression in reverence to God. It manifests in many ways including bowing, reverence and awe of Him, honoring and giving glory to God, and serving.
Take a look at Revelation 4:6-11.
“6 and before the throne there was as it were a sea of glass, like crystal.
And around the throne, on each side of the throne, are four living creatures, full of eyes in front and behind: 7 the first living creature like a lion, the second living creature like an ox, the third living creature with the face of a man, and the fourth living creature like an eagle in flight. 8 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!”
9 And whenever the living creatures give glory and honor and thanks to him who is seated on the throne, who lives forever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying,
11
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”’
This is a beautiful picture of what worship is like in heaven. We see angels gathered around the throne, so full of love and awe for God that they cannot stop worshiping! Their admiration of God will never end!
We, too, were created to worship God forever! Our purpose and very destiny is to worship the Creator of Heaven and Earth. How do we go from fulfilling our purpose of worshiping God to turning that worship to ourselves? Not to mention how easy it is for us to do this? It is our sinful nature.
Romans 1:23-25 says,
“23 and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.
24 Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, 25 because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen.”
Sin redirects our focus from God, the Creator, to the creation. We become more focused on the things we can see, touch, taste, and hear, and forget about the One who made it all. Our sinful hearts are easily swayed, and our short attention spans easily forget our purpose. It happens to us all at some point or the other. It is inevitable. It is the curse of sin.
There is good news and grace for our sinful selves. Christ came to restore all things, including our worship. Christ defeated sin, death, and the grave. Christ lived a perfect life and died the death we deserve to make all things right between us and the Father. 1 Colossians 1:15-20 says,
“15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. 16 For by[a] him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. 17 And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. 18 And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. 19 For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, 20 and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.”
It is crucial to remember that the gospel saturates every part of our lives, even our worship. Christ is the reason we have peace with the Father, despite our sins. When we find ourselves worshiping the creation instead of the Creator, may we be reminded of the gospel, the One who saves us from sin, the One who changes hearts, and the One who redirects our worship back to God.