Pondering Point

All godly worship is a response – a reaction – to the work of God in life, including His work of mercy in our lives and in the lives of those we hold dear. There can be many reasons to worship God, but 1 John 4:19 describes it in perhaps the simplest form: We love because he first loved us. That loving God response can be weekend worship in a sanctuary or weekday worship in a park; it can be workday worship over lunch or workout worship at a gym. Maybe it is commuting worship in a car or washing worship in the home. It can be you alone, with a few key spiritual allies, maybe in a small group, or with that traditional larger group we first mentioned: The weekend worship body.

Now let’s draw a distinction between knowing God’s will (from His Word) and doing His will. For instance, there is knowing a principle: God is merciful and I should respond in worship by offering my body as a living sacrifice. At this point there is knowledge of a principle but no action. Now consider someone who actively embodies this same principle: Since God is being merciful to me, I am going to respond in worship by offering my body as a living sacrifice in order to please Him. This second individual is who we want to become.