Psalm 96:5-6 says, "For all the gods of the nations are idols, but the LORD made the heavens. However, true worship is shallow if it is solely an acknowledgement of God's wealth. ![]() It is highly appropriate to thank God for all the things he has done for us. Our extravagant love and extreme submission to the Holy One flows out of the reality that God loved us first. Thus, if your lifestyle does not express the beauty of holiness through an extravagant or exaggerated love for God, and you do not live in extreme or excessive submission to God, then I invite you to make worship a non-negotiable priority in your life. True worship is a matter of the heart expressed through a lifestyle of holiness. True worship, in other words, is defined by the priority we place on who God is in our lives and where God is on our list of priorities. Yet, one in particular encapsulates the priority we should give to worship as a spiritual discipline: Worship is to honor with extravagant love and extreme submission (Webster's Dictionary,1828). There are numerous definitions of the word worship. Yes, these may be acts or expressions of worship, but they do not define what true worship really is. Worship is not volunteering in children's church. Worship is not the amount you place in the offering basket. Worship is not the slow song that the choir sings. Yet, even though I heard the word worship in conversation, testimonies, songs, and Scripture, I didn't completely understand what it meant. ![]() The Book of Psalms is filled with hundreds of poetic anthems used in the religious celebrations of the children of Israel that clearly instructed them (and us) how to worship God. My father regularly read Psalm 96:9 in our evening services: "O worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness: fear before him, all the earth" (KJV). Kennebrew, I was introduced to the term worship. ![]() in Folsom, LA, under the then leadership of my father and pastor, Bishop Vernon E. As a child growing up at the Midway Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A.
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