Worship: Ministry to the Lord


Photo Credit: littlestschnauzer via Compfight cc

Photo Credit: littlestschnauzer via Compfight cc

Real worship by the blood of Christ is the means by which we enter the throne room of God. It is the act by which we step out of our small perspective and enter into His Eternal perspective.  Worship unites the hearts of believers and positions them to hear what is on the heart of the Father.   I would argue that it is the highest calling and greatest priviledge we have as sons of God.  A better term for worship is the phrase, “ministery to the Lord”. This was an Old Testament term that was primarily reserved for the priests who would give sacrifices and offerings to God on behalf of the people. On account of the finished work of Christ, we are now a kingdom of priests and we too are called to give ourselves in ministry to the Lord. The word “minister” in Hebrew carries the notion of serving, contributing to, or waiting on someone. The act is completely God centered, focused on giving to and serving Him.

How do we minister to the Lord who made everything, and has need of nothing? The Bible gives us some clear examples. We live a life of thankfulness to Him (Phil. 4:6)  We bless Him by remembering His deeds and declaring who He is (Psalm 78:1-7). We sing to Him and minister to one another in psalms hymns and spiritual songs (Ephesians 5:19). We wait on Him when we give to the poor and the hurting (Matthew 25:31-40). In worshipping the Lord in these ways we step outside of our self driven life and offer ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice. We are called to do this individually and corporately. As we cultivate this activity as a personal discipline, we find that we have something to bring when we gather as churches of the heart.  In this setting, our individual streams of living water come together as one river and overflow into the ocean of God’s Presence.

 

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