Humans were created to worship. By this, I don't mean that we created with the capability to worship. I mean that embedded in our DNA is the compulsion to worship. We worship, whether we like it or not, whether we want to or not.
The question is, what do we worship?
Whatever we give the most of our time, our energy, our focus...those are the things that we worship. Worship is, simply put, extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem. If we find ourselves spending an inordinate amount of time or mental energy, or money on something, there's a fair chance that it's something that we worship.
God's desire is that we give him our worship. So, Christians, if we compare the things in our lives that we give most of our attention, money, and time...which things win out? Are they things that are not God? Where does God fall in the mix? If our devotion is going to things other than God, we need to re-evaluate. Anything that we worship that is not God is an idol...something that takes God's rightful place as the object of our worship.
A quick note: God doesn't need our worship. He's God. The reason God wants our worship is not for his sake; it's for ours. Worshiping is, in a sense, submission. It's elevating something above ourselves. If that something is money...we're submitting to money. If that something is sports, we're submitting to sports. If that something is self, we're submitting to self.
The things we worship, the things we submit to, have power over us. Putting worship where it belongs...on God...is submitting to God and giving him power over us. And that is as it should be. God desires our worship because it is beneficial and good for us to submit to him, to acknowledge the truth that God is God and we are not; that without him, we are nothing. God is the reason we have life and breath.
Again, we all worship something or someone. We were created to worship; it is unavoidable. The question is, what do you worship? Is your worship where it should be, on God? Or is it on an idol. Or many idols? How do we need to reorder things in our lives so that the focus of our worship is in its rightful place (on God)?
