Word for the day by Christian Education Forum

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Worship: Celebration of faith of the people of God
1CHRONICLES  16:23-31

23 Sing to the Lord, all the earth; proclaim His salvation day after day. 24 Declare His glory among the nations, His marvelous deeds among all peoples
 
Worship is an extreme form of love with unquestioning devotion. When we worship God we show our love and reverence to God without questioning Him. Christian worship involves praising God in music and speech, readings from scripture, prayers of various sorts, a sermon, and various holy ceremonies. Why do we worship Jesus and not another, or for that matter, nothing at all? It’s a crucial question. If we have no answer to that question then we have no reason to be Christian. Jesus Christ God’s Son, the King of Kings, and the Lord of Lords, Himself held back from the privileges of His Divine Son-ship in order to take upon Himself our weakness. By becoming man, He was able to bring mankind to God. As one ancient writer said, “He became what He was not so that we might become what He is.” His divinity, his humanity and humility and above all His true love for us makes Him worthy of our worship. God, in all of his glory, chooses to respond to us through our worship. When we worship the Lord with love and submission, God will commune with us. The promise is not about feeling great or that our burdens will be lifted, but that God will come. And when God comes in his own time as a response to our worship, Psalm 96:13 declares, "Let all creation rejoice before the Lord, for he comes, he comes to judge the earth. He will judge the world in righteousness and the peoples in his faithfulness." The songs we sing, the prayers we pray, the sermons we preach, and the stories we share must tell the whole truth of God’s love. Let us not draw attention to ourselves but be focused on giving glory to God who created, redeemed and saved us from eternal damnation. True worship is made complete only when we entwine it through our deeds and actions that truly reflect the love of God to others.
PRAYER
Heavenly Father, teach us to worship You in the beauty of holiness so that we may bow our hearts before You in spirit and truth, to Your honor and glory. Amen

 THOUGHT FOR THE DAY
Let us then not focus on drawing attention to ourselves, instead let our focus be on God who created us, loved us and saved us from eternal damnation.

Smitha Annie Mathew, SIMTC
Christian Education Forum, Diocese of NAE of the Mar Thoma Church

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