Re: Verse reading — Romans 12 (day two)
“Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice…be transformed by the renewing of your mind…”vs.1-2
Call to Worship, choir, orchestra, band, hymnody, scripture, and prayer these are the things we generally associate with the beginning of worship. These are good things, things which bring honor and glory to Jesus and are edifying to the body. What if worship, however, wasn’t dependent on those things. What if worship began in you and the those elements I listed earlier become an outpouring of what you were already experiencing.
Too often, I think, we rely on the “service” to begin our worship. It then becomes the responsibility of others, i.e. pastor, worship leaders, musicians to begin our worship. We expect them to get us fired up to worship, but perhaps we relegate too much responsibility to others in that case. It is not a secret that we come into the house of the Lord to give him the glory and praise he deserves. Why not let the first words out your mouth in the morning be a declaration of thanksgiving. Why not prepare your body and mind to worship. Think of what an awesome corporate experience that would be if we came expecting to meet Jesus and ready to worship him with every part of ourselves.
Amen! Jesus said we are to worship Him in spirit and truth. We cannot and should not be dependent on anyone or anything else in order for that to happen. It is a conscious choice we each must make every day, beginning within the depths of our hearts out of gratitude for all He has done and is doing in and through us. How much more glorious would our worship be if we each came with that attitude already flowing from within our hearts. May it be so.