Worship is…

 
Graham Cooke

One thing I’ve always loved to do is to take a fresh look at concepts most of us have grown familiar with. I thought I may do that with ‘worship’ today. Though not a comprehensive discussion of this brilliant idea, I hope these few thoughts refresh us as a community in our everyday practice.

I love the way God loves me. I worship His loving-kindness. Sometimes, as an introvert, I get lost in silent awe. I’m too full of gratitude to say anything but all the earnest contemplation of my introversion is fully directed at Him. It is utterly impossible to feel that astonishing love and not want to reciprocate. That reciprocation is worship, and it is never commonplace.

Worship is a response.

It is the act of giving all you are in celebration of all that He is for you.6 The Father is persistent, unfaltering and unstoppable in all of His affection for me. The compassion, forgiveness, kindness, mercy, grace, patience, gentleness, goodness and faithfulness of His love are marvelous to behold. We see ourselves in the lens of His love for us; we bask in how He views us and who He is for us.

To experience this kind of love produces an unrestrained exaltation that is the root of all worship. More so, we were made to live in this continual experience of his love that produces a continual response.

Worship is a permanent state of being.

No worship of God would be worthwhile—would be worthy of Him—if it was something we simply did once, or even twice. Just as love isn’t just for Christmas, worship isn’t just for Sunday mornings7, and it doesn’t need backing by a band.

The Father’s delight in Christ in me releases Jesus to be the Lord of my circumstances and empowers the Holy Spirit to train me to continually live in the space between the Father and the Son.5

Worship is a life-enhancing experience—transforming us by revitalizing us from the inside out.2

We step into the presence of God in our inner selves, away from the outer aspect of our lives. Inside, we’re always with Him, and He is always with us. We step away from the negative and into the positive, reclaiming and then maintaining the inner territory lost to anxiety, fear and doubt. Our hearts become opened, renewed in Jesus.

Worship is the melody that defines us as Christians, as people, as individuals.

It’s either in the foreground or the background of our hearts for as long as they beat, and when it does come to the fore, we cannot help but give ourselves over to it wholeheartedly, without reserve.

So, without further pondering, let’s set our hearts on things above, find ourselves ravished by a King’s love and worship—shall we?