True Worship

"Do not worship the LORD your God 

in the way these pagan peoples

worship their gods."

Deuteronomy 12:4

The man rang my neighbor's doorbell one afternoon.  Seeing that he was a solicitor for a lawn maintenance company, she told him that he was in a "No Solicitation" neighborhood as posted by the Sheriff's department on a sign positioned at the opening of the community.  He replied, "Oh, that's okay.  I'm not selling anything.  I'm just taking samples of homeowners' soil."  He then proceeded to step into her yard to do his work.  She called the Sheriff's department and charged him with trespassing.  Even though his purpose for taking the sample was to try to sell his service to the homeowner's, he had tried to pretend he was there for other reasons.  His deception got him into trouble.

Doing things my way and using my own definition of right and wrong rarely works out well.  In fact it usually ends in a mess.  I can rationalize my actions, calling it something else, but in the eyes of God it's still rebellion.  In the same way, God gave me specific instruction on how to worship Him in the way I live my life.  I can do what seems right to me, but in the end I will find it leads me nowhere and gets me into trouble.  

The message of the world in which I live leads me far away from God.  I can't combine a worldly attitude with one that pleases God. . . it just doesn't work.  If I want to truly honor God with my life, I need to live His way.

Break Strongholds

Everything that is more important than God in my life is considered to be an idol.  It could be relationships, material items, hobbies, careers or belief systems.  Whatever it is, if I can't give it up in a heartbeat without a backward glance, it is an idol.  


Back in the time of Moses, God's people had to physically destroy idols and their places of worship.  Today it's more complicated.  My idols are interwoven into my psyche, a part of my culture and way of thinking.  To break a stronghold of a certain false idea or ungodly habit, I must surgically remove it from my being and cast it away, turning my back on something that has become a part of who I think I am.  


In breaking the bond these idols hold on my life, I am giving God permission to be Lord of that area.   I am saying to God that, "You are more important to me than ___________________."


The Apostle Paul advised Timothy to teach his congregation to go after, "godliness with contentment." (1 Timothy 6:6)  It is important to constantly check myself and test whether or not God is of the utmost importance in my life.  


Pastor Paul Pepin came up with a simple "godliness with contentment" test .  He said the following will exist in a heart that is fully committed to God:  Gratefulness, lack of comparing myself to others' lives or to my own expectations, no attempt to fill a void with 'stuff', acceptance of a gain or loss in life as God's choice for me, and possession of godly ambition.


If I am to be truly satisfied in life, I must want God more than I desire anything else.  


The world says I can have it all, but God says I must make a choice.

Rejoice Together  

We live in a very individualistic society.  Family members retreat to their separate spaces to eat, study, work or relax.  The dinner table is becoming obsolete as the convenience of microwavable meals caters to our desire to please our personal desires.  People rarely get together in groups to celebrate anymore, except possibly at major holidays.  

But God desires for us to gather in His name, worshiping Him corporately, learning from His Word and sharing all that He has been doing in our lives.  In Deuteronomy 12:7, He instructed us to to go, "There, in the presence of the LORD your God, you and your families shall eat and shall rejoice in everything you have put your hand to, because the LORD your God has blessed you." 

Since we are now considered to be the church, it matters not where we meet.  What makes the difference is that we gather together and rejoice in what He is doing.  We share our blessings as a way of encouraging each other to continue on.   We celebrate His love for us.

One of the easiest ways of doing this type of worship is to re-institute the family dinner.  As we gather around the dining room table, we can make it a point to focus on how God is working and where He is blessing.  Make suppertime a time to worship God as we meet in His name.  Jesus said, ". . . where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." (Matthew 18:20)  I can set a place for Jesus at my family's table and see what happens!

The world says "every man for himself," but God says to rejoice together as we honor His name.

Live God's Way

I tossed the instructions aside.  My husband and I were putting together a bookshelf for my daughter's birthday.  We had built a few of these kinds of pieces and were convinced that we could figure it out on our own.  Once we had it all put together the way we thought it should go, we realized we were left with one finishing piece that didn't seem to fit anywhere.  

Finally, I consulted the directions and learned that the piece of molding was to be installed toward the beginning of the process.  Consequently, we had to take the shelf apart and start over again.  Doing it our way had cost us time and caused a bit of frustration.  Additionally, the piece of molding had been slightly damaged in our attempts to assemble it the wrong way, resulting in a flawed finished product.  

In the same way, God's people during the time of Isaiah the prophet had begun to worship God in a careless manner.  They lived their lives as those who did not know God, failing to pay attention to those who needed defending like widows, orphans and the oppressed, then they arrogantly entered the temple with their required sacrifices and offerings.  

They were observing all the feasts, celebrations and times of fasting, but their hearts were far from God.  They cared nothing for what was important to God.  Instead, they tried to check things off a list, hoping they looked holy enough in their actions to get by.  They were doing things according to what they thought looked good, but completely ignored God's instructions.

When I try to do things according to my own understanding, I can easily get caught up in doing things that are detestable to God. I'm not trying to hurt anyone, it's just that I can't determine on my own what is the best way to live.  

God made me and only He knows the way I should go about doing things.   His ways are higher than my ways so there is no way I can figure it out on my own.  In order to please God, I must pay attention to what He says is important.  My heart.  My motivation.  My focus.  

Lord, give me a clean heart that only desires to please you.  

The world says to do whatever feels good, but God says to live His way.

When I try to honor God with my life but continue to live like the world around me does, my efforts are detestable to the LORD.  Instead I can choose to break the strongholds that idols hold on my life, rejoice with my family of believers in all that God is doing, and to live God's way instead of the way I see fit.  When I do this, I will worship God the way in which He intended.  

As I begin this day it is my prayer that You will be the only thing on my priority list. 

How do I continue to rely on my own way of thinking instead of following God?

When was the last time I ate a meal with my family?