Worship That Pleases God
Originally Written August 29, 2009
Today, I read Mark 10
Point to Ponder:
- God wants all of me.
Question to Consider:
- Which is more pleasing to God right now - my public worship or my private worship? What will I do about this?
I'm contemplating how my being here to write this reflects my response to today's reading. I am extremely tired. We started a little after 10:00 this morning rearranging the living room furniture and moving the bookshelves from the dining room. It's currently 11:43.
So the question I'm struggling to answer is, did I stop, read today's chapter, read a chapter out of Mark, and now I'm writing this out of a sense of true devotion, or out of a desire not to break from routine?
That' I'm a creature of habit is well-established and pointless to question or ponder, so a desire to stay on track definitely plays a part. However, I also know that I've gotten a great deal out of this process so far, and I didn't want to miss that, either.
I suspect God is more pleased with my private worship than my public worship, which I think is at least moderately significant since I got the impression while I was reading that Pastor Warren expects it to be the other way around. I love Quest, but to a large degree I'm still "in my shell" while I'm there. I see people with their hands up and appreciating just communing one-on-one with God and I think "Wow. That's great for them." I, on the other hand, tend to sway slightly from side to side like a sycamore on a windy day. And that, I think, has a lot to do with my religious background. Seeing this sort of public, yet intimate, interaction between people and God is a new experience for me. I'm not completely sure I'll ever be entirely comfortable around it.
During my quiet time, however, I really do feel it's just me and God - me trying to rationalize Him out of my life, and Him throwing so many "coincidences" at me that eventually the preponderance of evidence will be such that I finally cave. He's definitely winning.
Still, though, I think it's this private worship of mine that probably pleases God more than my swaying in church.
As I was saying yesterday, there's no question I need to do more to make my worship a continual thing. However, I'm doing far more now than just a few months ago in that regard.
I hope my quiet time stays as meaningful for me as it is now, or if possible gets to be even more meaningful as I get better at it. In the meantime, I'll work on making my outward worship at Quest more authentic. Good thing God is so patient!
Verse of the Day
"Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength."
- Mark 12:30 (NIV)
I think this is my favorite post of yours so far. I have but one thought on this . . . don't get hung up on the "how" of worship. Worship is never about the "how." It's ALWAYS about the "Who" and the "why." I'm pretty sure God doesn't care if your hands are raised, if you're jumping up and down, or if you're in a catatonic state. What matters is the heart behind your worship. So, I think I can safely say that your swaying is as worshipful as any hand raising going on around you. Just something to think about . . .
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