Is it a lie?

The word "worship" has come to mean many things. It is probably most often used in talking about music, and I am guilty of using it in that context myself. The true meaning of worship has been weighing heavy on my heart. My Bible defines worship as.... "to express praise and devotion." Hmmmmm.....this definition stirred up some conviction in my life, as it should almost every Christian.  We sang these words last night:

"I will worship You Lord, only You Lord.

And I will bow down before you, only You Lord."

As Christ followers, we should constantly be examining things in our lives and comparing them to the standards the Lord laid has written out for us in His word.  I wonder how many times we express more praise and devotion towards our favorite sports team than we do to our loving Savior. I wonder how many times we express more praise and devotion to our "significant other" than we do to the one who created them for us. I wonder how many times we express more praise and devotion to our jobs and money than we do to the one who has richly blessed us with more than enough. I wonder how many times we express more praise and devotion to the church, as a building, instead of to the cornerstone and foundation of the family of God. I wonder how many times we express more praise and devotion towards the material things in our lives instead of towards the one who told us to give to "the least of these."

All these things are great to show devotion for, but the problem happens when they receive more praise and devotion than the one who has freed our souls! You see, I feel as though we have grown too familiar with the word worship. Most of us are worshiping so many things, we would not even be able to list them all; yet, we proclaim to have no other God's before Him. 

Take my heart, I lay it down

At the feet of you who's crowned

And take my life, I'm letting go

I lift it up, to you who's throned.

Far too many times, we sing lyrics like this, but we do not live lyrics like this. I firmly believe that living out the words of songs like this defines true worship. Slowly being able to recognize the things we express more praise and devotion to is not easy, but it is vital. We have a Lord who has lifted us out of the darkest places known to man, who has healed our soul and offered us redemption; isn't He the only one who deserves out praise and devotion?

Take my fret, take my fear

All I have, I'm leaving here

Be all my hopes, be all my dreams

Be all my delights, be my everything.

I pray you and I discover the true meaning of worship, but more importantly, I pray we would have the knowledge live it.