One of the ways we worship is to serve the people God loves!
Over the years, I have attended many worship services, and have been lost in the presence of God as we sang to Him, drunk on His love.
This is part, I’m sure of what Jesus referred to when He said:
John 4:23But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him.
24 God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.
Yet, then what?
Does worship end when the music stops?
If it does, how then can we fulfill: “Matthew 22:37 Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind?”
No, worship is much more than the singing of songs, it is our entire life, our study, our prayer, and the things we do in our day to day lives, with Him.
Now I know that it is only faith in Jesus that saves us, but as we walk with Him, He provides wonderful opportunities to exhibit His love in practical ways in helping people.
Ephesians 2:8-10
8 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should boast.
10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.
For those of you who know me, you remember how God dealt with me about His love, and that I did not have to work to earn His love: https://chrisaomministries.wordpress.com/2014/02/06/not-by-works-its-all-about-love/
Yet, clearly as we read this passage, Jesus love, shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Spirit, will provoke us to love people around us. If we don’t feel a thing, read with me these verses:
Let’s look at this teaching of Jesus together:
Matt 25:32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
41 Then shall he say also unto them on the left hand, Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels:
42 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me no meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me no drink:
43 I was a stranger, and ye took me not in: naked, and ye clothed me not: sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
44 Then shall they also answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, or athirst, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not minister unto thee?
45 Then shall he answer them, saying, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye did it not to one of the least of these, ye did it not to me.
46 And these shall go away into everlasting punishment: but the righteous into life eternal.
Don’t let the King Jimmy archaic English fool you, Jesus is very clear here. If we claim to love Him, we need to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, visit the sick, the prisoner, give water to the thirsty – and how about this verse:
James 1:27
27 Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world.
We need to care for widows in their distress, fatherless children (and yes, this includes orphans), and though it is not expressly spelled out in these verses, we need to care for the elderly, and those mentally and physically handicapped.
Jesus takes this stuff very personally when He says that when we help those less fortunate in our midst, we do it to Him.
“SERVICE” IN THE HEBREW “abodah” MEANS WORSHIP
If you have not read the famous short story by Tolstoy, ‘Where love is’, please read it here: http://www.online-literature.com/tolstoy/2892/
Hebrews 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
God is love, and if we claim to know Him, we too must love hurting people.
Let’s pray:
‘Father, forgive me for my hardness of heart. Help me to worship You, in serving the people You love, that You bring before me, each day. Jesus, I worship You in this, Amen’