Reflection: Worship through Serving

“Dear friends, God is good. So, I beg you to offer your bodies to him as a living sacrifice, pure and pleasing. That’s the most sensible way to serve God.” — Romans 12:1 (CEV)

“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship Him.” — Romans 12:1 (NLT)

We worship God not just in our songs, but in our serving, and we serve God not just by serving others but by worshipping him. Because of what God has done for us, the only response that makes any sense is to surrender to him in everything. This surrender manifests itself in both passionate worship, and in selfless serving. These two are so inseparable that the words can be used interchangeably, as in Romans 12.

We can also observe the close relationship between serving and worship in the Old Testament, as seen in Psalm 100.

While it is true that our worship of God encompasses far more than merely our songs, it certainly is no less. Indeed, as in the Romans passage, serving and worship go hand in hand. All too often we can find ourselves more comfortable with only one of these expressions.

There are Christians who are always ready to serve others but tend to avoid corporate worship. Likewise, there are those who are comfortable in a worship setting who avoid putting themselves out to serve others. The point is this: worship is all-encompassing. If you don’t habitually worship God, your serving will lack fruitfulness and impact. But if you don’t serve, you will never truly and fully worship as God intended.

Prayer:

Dear God, I come before you today, giving you everything; offering my very self as a living sacrifice, no strings attached, in complete and unqualified surrender. Help me worship you by serving your people and serve you through my worship.