Worship

1I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. (Rom 12:1-2). 

This past week, I experienced the difference between praise and worship. Roman 12 outlines what worship is. Verse 1 says, “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship”. In the original Greek, "to present" translates to paristémi (Strong's 3936), meaning to offer, to stand by, to provide, or to exhibit. Worship is the way in which we live our lives that shows whether we have a genuine relationship with our Father in Heaven. Worship is not lip service or empty promises. This point is made clear in Matt 15:8-9, when Jesus is speaking about the hypocrisy of the Scribes and Pharisees.  

8These people draw near to Me with their mouth,

And honor Me with their lips,

But their hearts are far from Me.

9 And in vain they worship Me,

Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.

Instead, worship is obeying the voice of the Lord because you desire one thing: to glorify Him. To further this point, Romans 12:2 says, “do not be conformed to this world but be transformed by renewing your mind that you may discern the will of God”. The action of renewing our minds is a command of how we are to live a life of worship to the Lord. Without renewing the mind, one can not offer their body as a living sacrifice because they have no way to measure whether what they are offering is good or the will of God. I am reminded of 1 John 3:4-9  that says: 

4 Whoever commits sin also commits lawlessness, and sin is lawlessness. 5 And you know that He (Christ) was manifested to take away our sins, and in Him there is no sin. 6 Whoever abides in Him does not sin. Whoever sins has neither seen Him nor known Him.

7 Little children, let no one deceive you. He who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous. 8 He who sins is of the devil, for the devil has sinned from the beginning. For this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that He might destroy the works of the devil. 9 Whoever has been born of God does not sin, for His seed remains in him; and he cannot sin, because he has been born of God.

The difference between praise and worship is that praise allows us to glorify and honor the Lord with our lips. We confess and give thanks for His sovereignty, His goodness, and His mercies. This is evident in verses like Psalm 150:1-3:

1Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

Praise him in his mighty heavens!

2  Praise him for his mighty deeds;

 Praise him according to his excellent greatness! 

But worship is how we honor the Lord with our lives. As 1 John 3 said, we come out of a life of sin and practice righteousness because we want to please our Heavenly Father and live a life that mirrors Him. Let this be a reminder that every day is an opportunity to grow closer to the Lord and to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God, which is our spiritual worship. Go in peace.