The Lifestyle of Worship

A Devotion by

Pastor Bobby

Romans 12:1-2 ESV

[1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

(ESV)

I cannot carry a note in a bucket. A squeaking brake sounds better than me singing. Because of this, when I was younger, I hated singing in church. I felt like everyone was judging me on how good I sounded. What made it even worse was I grew up in a small country Baptist church. Everyone in that church sang like an angel. Everyone but me. So, because of this I hated worship or at least the false meaning of worship I had in my mind.

I had this picture in my head that worship was singing a beautiful song about Jesus. Now singing is a part of worship. However, as I grow in my relationship with Christ. I see that singing is a small part if the puzzle when talking about worship. And really what changed my view on worship was Romans 12:1-2.

In the book of Romans, Paul is giving a full picture of the faith story to the believers in Rome. In the 12th chapter he starts to give the church of Rome applications on how to live out their faith. Which he starts out with the verse in Romans 12:1-2. "[1] I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. [2] Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." (ESV). The first thing you notice in this verse is that Paul is calling us to be a living sacrifice. The Romans would understand this concept a lot better than we do. Because they would be use to the practice of sacrificing. Unlike us. But what Paul is telling us is to voluntarily dedicate your entire life—body, mind, and actions to the will of God. In doing so this is worship. In other words, worship is a lifestyle. It is how you live your life. If you live your life for Christ, then that is worship to God. Then Paul goes on to tell us that we must align our mind with the things of God. And that we cannot be caught up with the things of this world. This might seem out of place. But I believe Paul is telling us that if we live according to God that is worship, but if we live according to the world we are living according to our sinful desires. Now there is much more ti these verses. However, I want to focus on the theme of worship is a lifestyle.

The bottom line is this, how we live matters. Are we going to live our lives for Christ, which in return becomes our true act of worship or are we going to give in to our sinful desires?

So, in closing how do we turn our lifestyle into an act of worship? First, we focus one prayer and reading God's word. Secondly, we want to get closer in our relationship with Christ. Third we do the will of God. Which is to go out and make disciples of all nation. Fourth, we live our live for Christ. At work, we work for God. When we do sports, we do it for Christ. When we sing, we sing for Christ. Everything we do is a living sacrifice for Christ.