“Rejoice evermore.  Pray without ceasing.
In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.”
– 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

So God wants obedience and relationship.  How do we do that?  We know that when we go to church, we offer praise for what we’re thankful for through song.  We also offer it through words when we express to Him and others what we’re thankful for in our lives.  Throughout the week, this is how we approach the day.  When we live a life of praise, we have an attitude of thankfulness for the things in our life.

We can also call that time at church when we sing, worship.  When you look at the definition of worship, it’s a little different than we often think, though.  Worship is the absolute subservience to His plan and acknowledgment of Him as king.  There are two main ways this is expressed.  The first one is when someone lays face down in the presence of God to acknowledge His power and their servitude (Matthew 17:6).

The other form of worship is not commonly talked about.  This form of worship is defined as work or service to God (Colossians 3:17-24).  It was used to describe what the priests did to take care of the temple.  So if the priests’ work is called worship, let’s look at that more.  There were several types of sacrifices, and it can become confusing.

For simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that there were various types of sacrifices, or offerings.  Some were required, and some were voluntary.  Some voluntary ones were meant to show thankfulness and praise towards God.  Some sacrifices were necessary to ritually cleanse people and provide restoration back to God and an opportunity to open communion with Him again.  The people could also participate in daily, whole burnt offerings for personal sin.  This represented the daily surrender to God.

An important note in all of these sacrifices was that the people, including the priests, were not allowed to bring what they wanted for a sacrifice.  They were given specific requirements, and obedience was required to show subservience. . . even for the voluntary sacrifices.  If you chose to give a sacrifice, there was a procedure.

So why is all of this relevant to us today?  If God is the God of the universe and time, why does it seem different?  Why does it seem like His character and expectations have changed?  That’s the key.  It SEEMS different, but it’s not.

As THE High Priest, He became the full, complete, and perfect whole burnt offering with His life.  This covered everyone else’s personal sin so that we could have communion with God again.  Because of the perfect sacrifice, it was permanent.  No more blood sacrifices were needed to remind us of the covenant between God and Abraham (Genesis 15:17).  It was complete.  It was finished (John 19:30).

He completed and fulfilled a covenant, but He did not quit requiring praise and worship through sacrifice.  His character and expectation did not change.  Man’s purpose for being on earth is (and always has been) to praise and worship, or serve, God.  But God, in His infinite wisdom, knew that praise and service only occurred with choice.  He gave us choice, and that act of choosing creates the opportunity to sacrifice our will.  Without this sacrifice of our self-will, we cannot be in His presence or serve Him.

So, we think that He doesn’t require sacrifice, but He does.  We are now the sacrifice.  Like Him, our lives are now the sacrifice.  How we live our lives is the sacrifice.  It always has been.  God’s character has not changed from the beginning of time.

He fulfilled that covenant that He’d cut with Abraham and told us that the time is now.  My Word is written in your hearts (Hebrews 10:16-17).  You know what to do.  Do it.  So, we accept Christ’s sacrifice.  Then, we offer our own sacrifice of our life to Him.  Live a life of praise through word and thankfulness in all things.  Do works of servitude and live in obedience to Him through worship.  Take Him with you throughout your day and kill your self-will. Live in obedience.  When Christ asks us to take up our cross and follow Him, He’s asking us to become that living sacrifice by giving up our self-well (Matthew 16:24; Luke 9:23).

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”
– Romans 12:1

For me, I need to hold my tongue.  I need to trust that Christ is here to protect me, not my prickly attitude.  I have to look for opportunities to help others when they’re struggling even though I just want to shrink into the corner and disappear.  As a wife, I must trust and look to my husband for guidance instead of trying to be the wind and the sails for our relationship.

What has helped me the most is praying the Lord’s Prayer with intention each day and earnestly asking for and expecting His Kingdom to come into my life instead of convincing Him that my kingdom (my desires) is best.  In this prayerful mindset throughout the day, I’m actively looking for opportunities to just say things out loud that I am thankful for while also ignoring petty grievances.

Let me tell you.  Things that I thought I needed to fight for and plan around started working out without me losing my witness or increasing my anxiety.  The things that didn’t work out, I realize we’re not needed.  The amazing thing about that is that each time He orchestrates something I would have never been able to do, my faith increases.  I am also beginning to realize that I not only don’t need to control, but couldn’t if I tried.  This doesn’t mean that I become a mindless zombie.  It just means that I only focus on my obedience and ignore everyone else when they’re not representing the Kingdom instead of getting offended.

– Written by Kati (Inspired by Jeremiah)

For more on living a life of worship, read a previous blog from Lee.

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