Worship 1.2

Worship: The continual turning toward God through every situation of trial or rejoicing in order that He would be glorified and honored and that others would come to know Him, or know Him better.

Looking a little closer at our definition, we see that worship is continual. This means that it is always going on. No matter the situation, worship is happening. But do we treat worship as though it is constant or do we save it for our Sunday gathering and midweek studies? We all have responsibilities outside of church: work, school, families, bills, etc. So often we view these things as the “stuff that happens between worship times.” But what if we were to look at them as additional unique opportunities to offer worship to the Lord?

A couple years ago I spent the summer directing a SALT camp (Servant and Leadership Training). Basically, I spent a summer learning and teaching how to worship God through things like scrubbing Bible camp bathrooms and dirty dishes. What we found was if God is omnipresent (in every place) and if His Spirit was living in us, then really, every moment of the day provided us an opportunity to be in His presence and offer whatever we were doing in that moment to Him for His glory and honor. It didn’t matter that we weren’t in a church or singing songs, our desire was to do what we were doing for His glory, no matter how menial. Our worship was continual.

The very same thing can happen for us right here and now, in the every-day things we do. Things such as waiting in the line at the grocery store become moments where we can commune with God. Managing our finances can be an opportunity to lean on the Lord’s provision, trusting He has everything under control. The humdrum of work, even our work itself, can be offered to the Lord as worship. The point is, worship doesn’t stop when we leave the church walls or turn the Christian music down. Worship is happening at all times. Worship is continual.