YOUR WORSHIP MUST BE MINDFUL!

 EVERYDAY IN THE WORD!

THURSDAY AUGUST 13, 2020.

SUBJECT : 

YOUR WORSHIP MUST BE MINDFUL

!

Memory verse: "

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength. This is the first commandment.

" (Mark 12 vs 30.)

READ: Luke 10 vs 25 - 28:

10:25: And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tested Him, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”
10:26: He said to him, “What is written in the law? What is your reading of it?”
10:27: So he answered and said, “You shalt love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

10:28: And He said to him, “You have answered rightly; do this, and you will live.”

INTIMATION:

Worship must be thoughtful, it must be mindful; coming from your mind, and well thought out. If worship is mindless, it is meaningless. You must engage your mind in worship. Jesus' command to "love God with all your mind" is repeated four times in the New Testament. God is not pleased when your worship is thoughtless, be it singing of hymns, or exclamation of "Thank You Jesus" or "Praise the Lord," or careless, and reckless praying of cliches because we can't think of anything else to say at the moment. For instance, someone who is in a precarious situation to start worshiping in praise, singing, “It’s well, it’s well, it’s well, in the name of Jesus, it’s well with my life today.” What is well? Instead of mindfully calling upon Him in your day of trouble that He will deliver you in accordance with His promise (Psalm 50 vs 15).

Jesus called thoughtless worship "vain repetitions." (Matthew 6 vs 7.) even Biblical terms can become tired cliches from overuse, and we stop thinking about the meaning. Though it is so much easier to offer cliches in worship instead of making the effort to honor God with fresh words or ways. But a genuine effort of new words or ways, expressing your heartfelt love and understanding of God, is better appreciated by Him because you are speaking from your mind. 

That kind of feeling is the same with us. When someone calls you by a new name outside what is common with your contemporaries, in appreciation of you, it attracts more of your attention, and receives more acceptance from you. It is the same with our God. Try praising God without using the words praise, hallelujah, thanks, or amen. Instead of saying, "We just want to praise you," make a list of synonyms and use fresh words like admire, respect, value, revere, honor, and appreciate.

Also be specific and mindful with your worship. Whatever you say in worship to God must be specifically meaningful; give Him good reasons for your form of worship. For instance, if someone approached you and repeated, "I praise you!" ten times, you would probably think, “For what?” You will not attach any importance to such salutations because it is meaningless to you. It is a commonplace in public when a person or group approaches you in a social gathering, and begin to poor encomiums (praises, high commendations) on you, it attracts less of your attention, and approval. You would rather receive two specific compliments than twenty vague generalities. So would our God.

Instead of thoughtless worship, make a list of different names of God, and focus on them. God's names are not arbitrary; they tell us about different aspects of His character. In Old Testament, God gradually revealed Himself to Israel by introducing new names for Himself, and He commands us to praise His name. Call Him names and be mindful and specific with reasons for the names in your worship. An ideal worship is like this: “You are my Loving Father and gave Your only Son out of love for my sins, You are my Sacrificial Savior who sacrificed Son on the cross of Calvary as a propitiation for my sins, You are my Faithful Companion who Your Holy Spirit to indwelling me and be with me always, what a loving and merciful God You are.” It is even more appreciative to call Him new names out of a mindful and specific heart, and give your reasons for such new names. 

Even in our public or corporate meetings, God wants our worship gatherings to be thoughtful too. The apostle Paul devotes an entire chapter to this in First Corinthians 14, and concludes thus, "Let all things be done decently and in order." (First Corinthians 14 vs 40.) We should also be sensitive to unbelievers around you in your worship, God insists that our worship services be understandable to unbelievers when they are present in our gathering. For instance, when some strangers are in your worship service, and you are praising God with your spirit—speaking in unknown tongues—they will not understand you, and as such will not know what you are doing, or even when to say, 'Amen'? You may be worshipping God in a wonderful way, but no one else will be helped. 

Concerning this, the apostle Paul, in First Corinthians 14 vs 16 - 17, says thus, "Otherwise, if you bless with the spirit, how will he who occupies the place of the uninformed say "Amen" at your giving of thanks, since he does not understand what you say? For you indeed give thanks well, but the other is not edified." Being sensitive to unbelievers who visit your worship gatherings is a biblical command. To ignore this command is to be both disobedient and unloving. 

 

Prayer: Abba Father, give me the grace to mindfully worship You at all times, expressing my deep heartfelt understanding of who You are, and my appreciation of You and Your doings, in Jesus’ Name I have prayed, Amen.

PRAISE THE LORD!