What do you consider important? Who do you consider important in your life? Do you worship that object or person? Why is it we seem to put people we don’t really know on a pedestal? Why do we put things above people?
Sometimes it seems our world is upside down. We chase after new and more expensive things. We listen to every word our favorite star, whether sports, actor, or political as if they are God. And our world, specifically the media, continues to feed our desire to worship something or someone above God.
We often want to deny it. If we happen to admit it happens, we claim it is short term and we have corrected our behavior. Yet, have we really? My experience is that I will recognize one small area of my life that I was not turning over to God and I will change that while continuing in the same way I always have in others.
As I observe the world around me, I see a continual lack of worshiping of God. I’m reminded of Jesus’ words in Matthew 15:8 “These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. They worship me in vain; their teachings are merely human rules.” He was quoting from Isaiah, which means this has been going on for thousands of years. We, as humans, continue to try to do things our way and continue to fail to truly worship God.
We are told many times that we are to give up trying to do things our way and to follow God’s way. That means we need to worship Him with our entire being. If we are worshiping Him in that way, we no longer struggle to do things our way. Unfortunately, we don’t want to give up our way for God’s way.
This is the point that Paul is making in our Scripture for today. We are to be a living sacrifice for God. This is a new concept for the Jews, but the base concept for us as Christians. The Jews brought their sacrifice to the altar alive but killed it and burned it on the altar. In one sense, we are to die as well, but we are to die to ourselves, giving up our wants for God’s desire for our lives. We are to live for Him rather than our own selfish desires.
When we give up our entire being for God, we are truly worshiping Him. You see, worship isn’t just a few songs, a prayer, a sermon, and tossing a few bucks in the collection plate. It’s living every day to Him rather than ourselves. It’s seeking Him in everything we do.
I pray we all truly worship God. I pray we humbly submit to God’s will. I pray each of us will release our selfish desire and seek God’s desire for our lives. Be a living sacrifice for God. Let go of your selfish desires. Seek God’s will for your life. Truly worship God.
Romans 12:1 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.
Marty Pressey 