Morning Devotion with Dr. Houston: Right Worship

Right Worship
I 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. (Romans 12:1-2 ESV)

Every aspect of our lives is part of our worship. We worship from the moment our eyes open in the morning to the second they close at night. Worship is magnifying (or making much of) someone or something by our actions, thoughts or words. It is setting anything, be it God or otherwise, into the place of high prominence and authority in our lives. However, this understanding of worship is slipping from Christian belief and practice. Worship today is generally thought of as a genre of music or a thirty minute period in which we sing songs to God. Though the latter is a crucial component of worship it does not encompass it.
 
In fact, we learn from today’s passage that discerning God’s will from a transformed and renewed mind, and then actually doing it, is pivotal to right worship. We are called to be men and women and children who become like Jesus, instead of trying to make Jesus fit our desired mold for him. The wrong conformity is worshipping the gods of culture, while true Christianity is worshipping the One God in culture. When we hold such a small view of worship we lose sight of “what is good and acceptable and perfect” because we lose the ability to know it! Only through the giving and submitting of our entire lives can we rightly worship God and fulfill our purpose and mission on this earth.

Dr. Houston