Abominable Worship

These people draw near to Me with their mouth And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. ~ Matthew 15:8-9

I once read a sentence that stuck with me until now. It goes thus: “Let us not get too involved in the work of God that we forget the God of the work.” It has become the status quo for most of us Christians today. We think to ourselves that because we are involved in the work of God, that automatically means that God is pleased. Far from it, what I write now may surprise/anger you, but that is the truth. God does not care about what you do for Him if you are not wholly devoted to Him first. God is not after what you will do for Him. He is out to win your heart instead.

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service (Romans 12:1). We quote this verse often that we have missed the truth stated therein because we have taken it out of context. I did the same, even admonished believers with this portion of the scripture until the Holy Spirit gave me a better understanding (John 16:13-14). What is the truth we are missing? We are trying to present our bodies to Christ without going through the cleansing by Jesus’s blood and walking in the light of God (I John 1:7). In the Old Testament, whenever the people wanted to present a sacrifice to God, it had to be of specific requirement, else it is not be accepted (Leviticus 22:20).

J.B. Phillips translates the opening of Romans 12:1 as: “With eyes wide open to the mercies of God.” To what mercies are our eyes wide open? We were once dead in sin, following the ways of this world under the wrath of God, but in the fullness of time, God sent His only begotten Son to purchase our redemption to Him (Galatians 4:4-5; Ephesians 2:1-5). Charles Welsey put this beautifully in a hymn:

Long my imprisoned spirit lay, 

Fast bound in sin and nature’s night

Thine eyes diffused a quickening ray

I woke, the dungeon flamed with light

My chains fells off, my heart was free

I rose, went forth, and followed thee

Now, it is not enough to possess this as head knowledge. We need to reckon this truth in our hearts by faith. Apostle Paul in Romans 6, mentions that we first have the knowledge that we are dead to sin and made alive in Christ, then we ought to reckon this true on our account. In other words, God says it is so I believe it to be so (Romans 6:6;11). Offering ourselves as living sacrifices becomes the outcome of knowledge possessed and the reckoning we have done by faith. You see, presenting ourselves as a living sacrifice as our act of worship to God because of the great mercies He has shown us.

You might be quick to say: this does not apply to me because whenever I worship privately, there is a strong presence of God that I feel which is proof God accepts my worship. In my public worship, there are signs and wonders. I tell you this God can move through your worship to save souls, minister to those given to Him, and not necessarily be pleased with you leading the worship. It does not correlate with the word of God you say. Let me point you to one of the most disheartening verses of the Bible:

“Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.

Many will say to me in that day, Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many wonderful works?

And then will I profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” - Matthew 7:21-23

The question is not about what happens, what you feel when you worship. Instead, it is, does God accept my worship. To worship God, a man must have been cleansed by the blood of Jesus, reckoned himself dead to the world and alive to God, and has, as a result, completely surrendered himself as a living sacrifice.

Let this prayer of David be yours from Psalms 19:12-14:

Who can understand his errors?

Cleanse me from secret faults.

Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins;

Let them not have dominion over me.

Then I shall be blameless,

And I shall be innocent of great transgression.

Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart

Be acceptable in Your sight,

O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.