BELIEVE•LOVE•OBEY. These three words mark the beginning of the Worship section of the United Methodist Hymnal, p. xi. It is a foundation for our worship, for we start with belief, we receive love, and armed with faith and love, we enter into obedience. All involve our participation, and our willingness to direct our eyes, ears, hearts, minds, spirits, our very being towards God. Worship is all about God, not us. All that makes up worship should be directed towards God, not us. What we bring into worship is what we get blessed by through worship.
Worship is the act of our showing love and reverence to God. Worship is our willingness to enter into that which we can say is the presence of God. We listen for what God may say to us through the reading of God's Word, through our prayers and the time of reflection afterwards, and we give thanks to God for all that we have received and for all that we have learned about God's great love for us. Worship is a combination of all the Lenten words we have shared through this blog; obedience, submission, fasting, prayer, reflection, humility, and our wanting to stay connected with God.
The Bible has different people in different times showing different expressions of worship towards God, but the common theme is gratitude towards God and a showing back love to the Source of love. Our worship does not end with our worship services in church or private times of prayer and meditation; we are worship people that seek to glorify God in all places and in all times. We become the proclamation part of worship with our expressions of love towards others.
May we humble ourselves before God each day in a way that worships God and says to God, "Here I am, I am Yours, and I want to serve You and Yours in true love."
PRAYER: God of life and God of love, here I am; I am Yours to do with me whatsoever You want. My desire is to show your love among all people, but guide me to those who do not yet know love and let me bless them in ways that invite them to know You. This I pray in He who worships You even now, Jesus, my Lord and Savior, amen.
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