everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work,
and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering.
Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for
Him. Don’t become so well-adjusted to your culture that you fit into
it without even thinking. Instead, fix your attention on God. You’ll
be changed from the inside out. Readily recognize what He wants
from you, and quickly respond to it. Unlike the culture around you,
always dragging you down to its level of immaturity, God brings the
best out of you, develops well-formed maturity in you."
(Romans 12: 1-2, MSG)
The intent is for us to recognize and act on who we are as worshipers and what the purpose is. Worship doesn't end at the church door. I often think we really don't understand what worship is. It truly encompasses and goes beyond singing to the Lord. It's personal and private, it's group based, it's a noun and a verb. Simply... it impacts every area of our lives: "Take your everyday, ordinary life... and place it before God as an offering"
Webster says:
"...in Christianity, worship is the act of attributing reverent honour and
homage to God. In the New Testament, various words are used to refer
to the term worship. One is proskuneo ("to worship") which means to
bow down to God or kings."
However, it is Vine's Dictionary that is closer to the heart of worship:
"do reverence to" (from pros, "towards," and kuneo, "to kiss"), is the
most frequent word rendered "to worship." It is used of an act of
homage or reverence; ... to revere," stressing the feeling of awe or
devotion"
While I could continue providing definitions and considerations, Vine words about worship may hold the best clue:
The worship of God is nowhere defined in Scripture. A consideration of
the above verbs shows that it is not confined to praise; broadly it may
be regarded as the direct acknowledgement to God, of His nature,
attributes, ways and claims, whether by the outgoing of the heart in
praise and thanksgiving or by deed done in such acknowledgment."
Another way of saying this is the Amplified Bible's version:
"Therefore I urge you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to
present your bodies [dedicating all of yourselves, set apart] as a
living sacrifice, holy and well-pleasing to God, which is your rational
(logical, intelligent) act of worship. And do not be conformed to this
world [any longer with its superficial values and customs], but be
transformed and progressively changed [as you mature spiritually]
by the renewing of your mind [focusing on godly values and ethical
attitudes], so that you may prove [for yourselves] what the will of
God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect [in His plan
and purpose for you]. (Romans 12:1-2, AMP)
I would recommend that if you consider both the Amplified and Message Bibles translations, you will have a more complete understanding of what worship is and does. Truly, it does involved a 24/365 mindset.
How do you worship? Only in church with a group? Worship is so much more and you are depriving yourself of some wonderful times with the Lord when you limit this 'activity'.When you really consider worship, you'll quickly see that it's really for us. Worship is a way for us to express our love and devotion to the Lord of Lords. It's a form of communication that emanates from us toward the Creator of the Universe. And this only scratches the surface... I would suggest that it is in the doing that understanding will come and grow you as a worshiper.
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