Ainsworth
November 14, 2007, 07:42 AM
The Most Important Thing We Do
Everyone is looking for meaning in life. Life is short! We want to make sure we don't miss what it's all about. We can pursue money (and what it can buy), power, fame, luxury, thrills, highs, sensuality, or a number of other things. When it is all said and done, will we have accomplished the purpose for which we were created--that is, if we were created by someone for something?
Jesus, the one I follow, said that our highest purpose is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Of course, He was quick to add a close second: love your neighbor as yourself!)
So, our greatest purpose is loving God with all of our being.
How do we do that? Perhaps the grandest way we communicate our love to God is through worship, both public and private. The English word worship comes from the word “worth” and signifies that we worship when we express to God how much He is worth to us. And to the follower of Jesus, God is worth all we that have and all that we are! When we truly worship God, we are motivated and empowered to go out and minister in His name in our world, which is really simply an extension of our worship.
Some Christians believe that evangelism is the most important thing we do. While I have sympathy with that view, the truth is, the most important thing we do is worship. It is the driver for evangelism and everything else we do.
Having already said that worship is both public and private and includes our behavior as we live, I would like to talk some about that important area of public worship. What a shame it is that worship is the most important thing we do, and yet many believers spend a lot of time divided over worship today. Let's think together about it for a few minutes. Let's start with a verse from the Psalms:
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95.6-7
Everyone is looking for meaning in life. Life is short! We want to make sure we don't miss what it's all about. We can pursue money (and what it can buy), power, fame, luxury, thrills, highs, sensuality, or a number of other things. When it is all said and done, will we have accomplished the purpose for which we were created--that is, if we were created by someone for something?
Jesus, the one I follow, said that our highest purpose is to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.” (Of course, He was quick to add a close second: love your neighbor as yourself!)
So, our greatest purpose is loving God with all of our being.
How do we do that? Perhaps the grandest way we communicate our love to God is through worship, both public and private. The English word worship comes from the word “worth” and signifies that we worship when we express to God how much He is worth to us. And to the follower of Jesus, God is worth all we that have and all that we are! When we truly worship God, we are motivated and empowered to go out and minister in His name in our world, which is really simply an extension of our worship.
Some Christians believe that evangelism is the most important thing we do. While I have sympathy with that view, the truth is, the most important thing we do is worship. It is the driver for evangelism and everything else we do.
Having already said that worship is both public and private and includes our behavior as we live, I would like to talk some about that important area of public worship. What a shame it is that worship is the most important thing we do, and yet many believers spend a lot of time divided over worship today. Let's think together about it for a few minutes. Let's start with a verse from the Psalms:
“Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care.” Psalm 95.6-7