I’m a worshiper. I’ve described myself as such for as long as I can remember. I remember as a child hearing how other little girls would picture themselves sitting in God’s lap, but I never did, I always pictured myself dancing at His feet. So, this, is how I’ve always identified myself, this was, and is, my purpose in life, to lift His name high! I remember clearly once laying in the back of my parents car listening to the car radio and feeling so very sure that my calling in life was to teach people how to worship God.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” John 4:23-24

This, I felt, was my special calling! That special amazing thing that only I could do! But I will confess to you, that to this day, I am still trying to figure out what that means!

I remember dancing in worship of God when I was a small child, all my heart and soul so enraptured. I knew that I knew that I knew I had a right to walk into His presence, to storm the gates of heaven with my praise! I was so determined that God would hear my voice that I literally sang louder then everyone else in the room, you could actually hear me down the street!

But as time has gone on, as I’ve left that simple child-faith behind and have had to learn what a grown up relationship with God looks like, and how hard it actually can be to keep praising Him even when my life is in seeming ruins around me; I’ve learned, that even though we are all uniquely special in His eyes, that my “calling” was not unique.

Every one of us is called to lift our voices in His honor, that is the purpose of every one of our lives! It is maybe not done in the same way, not with singing, or dancing, but it is, in the end, the reason we were created.

“For from him and through him and for him are all things. To him be the glory forever! Amen. Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God – this is your true and proper worship.”  Romans 11:36-12:1 emphasis mine.

So each and every one of us was created for God’s glory and to bring Him praise. Our very lives should be a testament to His glory, offered up as a holy and pleasing sacrifice to Him. But what does that look like? Well let me ask you, does your life bring God glory? I’m not asking if you are religious, most everyone will recognize that religion does not bring God any glory at all. I’m asking if your life brings God glory!

Let me see if I can put this in a way that seems less convoluted.

Say you are a salesperson. A dedicated salesperson pretty much saturates their life in the product that they are selling. A good sales person will use the product they sell, boast about it, tell everyone about it, and pretty much sing its praises. Their whole life can, annoyingly for the rest of us, become little more then a testimony about the greatness of the thing they are selling! They surround themselves with it, focus their mind on it, and live it.

Or lets put it another way, most people have had that “in love” feeling. You know the one, the one where every thought of every waking day is devoted to that special person. Your mind, your life, your everything is saturated in this relationship, and everyone knows it.

So, let me ask you, is God, like the sales product or that special person, the center of your life? Does everyone know it? I’m not saying to be obnoxious about it, annoying to the extend people don’t want to be around that “Jesus person.” But still, if your life is supposed to be a sacrifice to Him, shouldn’t it be kind of obvious to those around you?

So many people think of God as this being in the sky, this distant, big, presence. They might go to church, sing songs, study scripture, and teach their children to follow Him, but this is not the worship He wants. Let me be very clear, if God only wanted words, He could demand them from the very rocks and they will answer! Luke 19:40 In fact the Bible says that all of creation declares His glory. Yet He wants more from us.

Here is the point in the discussion where people start thinking God must be pretty full of Himself to want all of His creation to be pretty much obsessed with Him, and honestly, if anyone has a right to be full of themselves, its God. However, though I think there is a point that our purpose is to bring God glory simply because He deserves glory, I don’t think that is His main reason for wanting our whole focus.

If we really want to understand why God wants us to be so engaged in having our whole lives praise Him, if we want to understand why God wants us to relate to Him this way, then we need to know how He relates to us.

Did you know God is obsessed with you?

Really He is! All through scripture God describes His people as His bride, it talks about His jealousy over us, and even talks about Him singing over us! Zeph 3:17 We love Him because He first loved us! 1 John 4:19

Let me make this clear. You’d be pretty disappointed if the object of your affection didn’t give you the time of day. It would break your heart!

This, then, is why God wants our worship! He doesn’t actually demand it, just like a person who really loves you won’t demand you love them in return, but He really does desire it. He’s obsessed with you and He longs for you to be obsessed with Him!

This, then, is what it means to be called to worship God, it is a call to be in relationship with Him. That is waaay more then singing in church on Sunday. That means spending time with Him day by day, getting to know Him, talking to Him about just about anything that’s on your mind, sharing your life with Him.

And as you share your life with Him, as He shares His life with you, then a very natural thing happens. What is important to Him becomes important to you, His ideas influence yours, His desires influence your desires.

And all of a sudden, the most important thing in your life, is Him!

-Joy Aletheia Stevens

Photo Credit: Joy by Kathryn Decker (CC BY 2.0)   

Photo Credit: Holy Cross at Sunrise by Sean MacEntee (CC BY 2.0)