I can't believe it's been over 2 months since I've actually written on this blog! When I started this blog, part of the reason was for accountability and to honestly share on my journey in hopes that by being honest & transparent it would help others on their journey of living a life of worship.
Those of you who know me know that I am incredibly passionate about worship...but not just worship - what it means to live a life of worship. So what is the difference when you are living a life of worship as depicted in in Romans 12:1-2? Worship is something that comes fairly easily to me - it is something I love doing - something I've dedicated my life to leading and asking others to join me in the worship of the Almighty, Sovereign God. There is nothing more life changing than seeking Him out and being in His presence - the One who created the world and created you; realizing how holy He is - how mighty He is...yet He chooses to know us - to have a relationship with the very ones who caused the death of His only Son.
While I have most definitely worshipped over the last 2 months and found myself in His presence, I have been awoken this morning with this thought in my mind - I do not think I've truly lived a life of worship. Yes, I have prayed, read the Word, and had moments of worship...but I have stopped looking for Him in every part of my life. It seems like over the past few months, we have been surrounded with drama in different areas of our lives which has taken our focus off of Him a lot of the time; we have been focused on the drama. Understanding that part of our focus has been praying and seeking Him and striving to handle things the way He wants; but the drama still had our focus. Rather than just living in Him and seeking to be who He wants me to be, I've been living in the situation and seeking His direction. Rom 12:1-2 says - "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. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect."
In our Bible study group, we started back up in the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster and this week our focus was on the discipline of meditation. This is a discipline that comes very easily to me - to sit in the presence of God and be still & quite and just aware of who He is...listening to Him. This is my favorite discipline...yet...this week I have found it a struggle...
The preaching we were blessed to hear this last Sunday was on Luke 15 & the prodigal son...but rather than all of the emphasis being on the son who ran away to "the far country" and got wrapped up in seeking the ways of this world for happiness, we were asked to examine ourselves and to think about how many steps we had taken to "the far country" and not even realized. We were asked to think about the last time that we were truly broken before God and overwhelmed at the sin we carry...how dirty and filthy we are standing before a holy God. If we have not been completely overwhelmed that a holy & righteous God looks past our filth & sin and loves us, then we have to ask ourselves why not? How can I stand in His presence and know these things but not be constantly overwhelmed that He even allows me in His presence? This is living a life of worship - knowing this fact and living it every day. On Sunday, the pastor used the example of rolling through a stop sign and asked how many of us viewed sin that way...thinking - "oops I just messed up", but it's not really a big deal? We become so caught up in life that we forget how incredibly personal sin is to God. When is the last time you actually came before Him in private and became so aware of who He really is - all that He is - that you were overwhelmed with how you had sinned before Him?
The things of this world - our wants, the drama, stress, etc. - it will always be there...that is how Satan works to get our attention off of a Holy God. The more we let the things of this world take up our time and thoughts, the more steps we take to a "far country" and they will just continue to take up more and more of our lives. If we can keep our focus on the Living & Redeeming Lord - if we can remember that He knows what tomorrow brings & leave the stress with Him, we will not only be living a life of worship, but we will be living in His peace rather than the chaos of this world. It is by bringing Him into EVERY area of our life that we can live in that peace...
I want to end this post by encouraging you to find a quite place - in the busyiness and craziness of this life, find a few minutes to be alone in a quiet place. If you have a hard time being quiet, take your ipod with some worship music that will help you get to that quiet place and then just be quiet before your Creator...then cry out to the Holy God & confess your sin before Him - allow yourself to come "undone" before Him; once you have totally emptied yourself before Him, ask Him to fill you with His love. It's unreal how just a few minutes of being quiet in His presence will change everything around us... ;)
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