True Worship

 

-3 kinds God won't accept-

The Bible gives us a warning about how we worship because not every kind of worship is acceptable to God. Curious? I'll let the WORD answer and start with Malachi 1:10, "I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of Hosts. Neither will I accept an offering at your hand." 

So what kind of worship does GOD reject?  

FIRST: When your lips worship but your life doesn't. Isaiah 29:13 says, "For as much as this people draw near me with their mouth, and with their lips do homor me, but have removed their heart far from me." Jesus quoted this in Matthew 15. They looked religious. They showed up. They sang the songs, but their hearts were far from God. And that warning still applies today. You can worship on Sunday, then live completely differently the rest of the week. Your words, your money, your choices, your private life, they reveal what you truly worship. 

Worship isn't one hour on Sunday. It's the life you give GOD every day.

SECOND: Would you give GOD your leftovers? In the book of Malachi chapter 1, Israel brought God blind, sick, and lame animals while keeping the best for themselves. God challenged them, "Offer it now unto thy govenor. Will he be pleased with you or accept your person?" Think about that. Would you give your worst to someone you truly wanted to honor? Then why give God your leftovers? Leftover time, leftover energy, leftover attention. GOD doesn't deserve what's left. He deserves your first.

THIRD: When worship is emotion without truth. Jesus said in John 4:23,  "but the hour comes, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in Truth, for the Father seeks such to worship Him." Notice: Spirit and Truth, not emotion alone. You can cry during a worship song, raise your hands, feel something powerful, but emotion alone isn't true worship. True worship leads you towards GOD'S truth, towards repentance, toward oibedience, toward a CHANGED LIFE! God isn't looking at how loudly you sing. He's looking at how you live when you walk out the door.

So, ask yourself, is my worship truly reaching GOD?

Until He Comes,

-Pat-