Read Romans 12:1

God wants worship to make up our lives. He wants our lives to be the worship.

Worship. It’s “reverent honor and homage paid to God”, according to dictionary.com.

The original Greek word can be translated as “sacred service” or “priestly ministry,” and it’s only found five times in the entire New Testament. It’s the word associated with what the high priest did in the tabernacle when presenting a guilt offering for God’s people, which God called the most holy of sacrifices. 

It’s the word God uses to describe yours and my proper response to His life-giving, death-conquering, all-forgiving love that secured the more-than-survival kind of living we get when we trust Him with who we are.

“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God — this is your true and proper worship.” (Romans 12:1)

It’s easy to mistake the word “worship” for what we do on Sunday mornings when we all stand up and sing a song or to think it only applies to praise music. But Paul says worship is actually a life completely surrendered. In fact, according to Romans 12:1, the kind of worship that makes God smile is when we offer Him the reins and let His Holy Spirit direct all that we do, everything we say. True and proper worship is the sacrifice of our very bodies as instruments of our souls, which are surrendered to God.

God wants us all-in for the moments and the hours and the days between Sundays. A life of worship hands Him the control. It points to Him, knows Him so well it can’t help but adore Him. Worship is living that flows from the depths of amazed and straight into doing the stuff God leads us to do.

Like loving a neighbor even when it’s awkward. Or refusing to jump in on the office gossip even when it’s really funny. Worship is our very lives presented to God in a way that follows His plan. Like changing a diaper for a mom whose day has gone sideways and she just. needs. a. moment. It’s sensing the Holy Spirit’s nudge and obeying when He gives you a no-brainer opportunity to talk about Jesus and the hope He offers. 

Worship is not just a song. It’s a life surrendered to God Himself.

In what way are you going to live more surrendered to God today?

Bria Wasson