Romans
12:1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in
view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and
pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.
Once a week, Sundays,
Christians attend church to worship God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Prayer,
hymns, readings and sermons make up most Christian worship services. Musical
instruments, big projection screens, microphones, ushers, offerings and
testimonies also can be found in our worship times. Some groups are in and out
in an hour. Others worship for hours, stopping when they have depleted all
their emotional, physical and mental energies. They get back in their cars and
go home. They return a week later and do it again. This is our traditional
understanding of worship.
Paul takes worship out of
the building on Sunday and gives us permission to worship God each day. Our
daily lives are to be filled with worship. Giving to the needs of a stranger is
worship. Sharing words of encouragement to someone who is confined to a
hospital bed is worship. Enjoying a sunrise or sunset and giving your thoughts
to God in appreciation for His creation is worship. Loving your wife and
children each day is worship. Waiting patiently in line at the check-out
counter while an older woman struggles to find her change purse is worship.
Giving of your professional skills toward the education of troubled young men
or women at a homeless shelter is worship. Speaking truthfully in love to
others is worship. Letting others have their way in a heated discussion is
worship.