In church, we hear the phrase praise and worship. We use them interchangeably. I have learned they are not the same.
Romans 12:1
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.”
Romans 12:1 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/rom.12.1.NKJV
When we look into what service means, it means worship. In the Strongs Concordance G2999, it states that it means ministration of God that is worship. G2999 comes from G3000, and that means to minster to God, render religious homage.
Well, what is worship then? The Noah Webster states that worship is ”to adore; to pay divine honors to”. In order to see how to the bible defines worship, we must go to the first mention of worship.
“And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.””
Genesis 22:5 NKJV
https://bible.com/bible/114/gen.22.5.NKJV
Abraham was heading up to sacrifice his son because God told him to sacrifice Issac. Of course, God provided the ram, and Abraham had faith he and his son would return.
So worship, is obedience. Complete obedience even when we don’t like what he is asking us to do.
Going back to Romans 12:1, it says offer our bodies….which is a reasonable service. Our bodies is all our human faculties (heart, mind, hands, thoughts, attitudes)….all control. To accomplish this we must renew our minds as Paul tells us in Romans 12:2.
Worship includes: praying, reading The Word, singing, serving, confessions of sin, giving, hearing the Word of God preached, praising, and many others. Worship is not limited to an act, but by heart and attitude.
Why do we worship? We worship him for who he is, and what he has done. His mercies are new everyday. He is God Almighty, all powerful, and he loved us so much his Son died for our sins, and reconciled us back to God.
True worship is acknowledging God in all we do because he is all power and Glory and Honor belongs to him.
It comes down to choice. Do you chose to worship God? Or do you chose to worship self?
