Long-Term Worship 

In my previous few articles, I’ve unpacked different ways to be worshipping God, whether at work or at home, and how to incorporate that into your daily activities. Today, I want to look at three simple ways we can be worshipping God with a longer-term view. Here are the three ways I want to examine today: 

1. Worshipping by Faithfulness 

1. Worshipping by “Following My Commands” 

1. Worshipping by Consistency 

Worshipping by Faithfulness 

One of the ways we can be worshipping God throughout our lives is by being faithful. Faithfulness means not only our permanent commitment to follow God and His statutes, but also to being faithful to steward & keep what He has entrusted to us. Worshipping God is not only a daily thing, but it is a lifelong thing, and faithfulness too is not just momentary but enduring.  

Our old lead pastor at my home church once responded to a general query of people “not hearing from God.” His response to this concern was to ask, “what was the last thing He told you to do?” This question concerns faithfulness – continuing to do, and do with excellence, what God has given you until He assigns you something new. These continuous acts of faithfulness are one way to be worshipping God long-term. 

Faithfulness also involves stewardship. Stewardship is taking care of what God has given us, whether physically in & with our bodies, materially with our finances & possessions, or relationally with our spouse, friends, and kids. Stewardship even involves using our gifts & talents for God’s glory! A good steward will not only take care of what the Master has given them but will return it back to the Master better than when he received it.

First, worshipping God can be done through our bodies – by taking care of our physical bodies, e.g., eating clean, healthy, whole foods, exercising, and sleeping well, we are worshipping God by being a good steward of the body that He gave us. And the body that He bought & paid for! (1 Corinthians 6:20). Secondly, worshipping God can be done by using & developing our gifts & talents for His glory, and not our own. When we use our gifts to glorify God, using them to honor God and using them in love to edify the body of Christ, we are practicing the principle of good stewardship from the Parable of the Talents (Matthew 25:14-30).

Finally, worshipping God can be done through sowing into our relationships with love & preference to others. God has entrusted a handful of specific relationships to each of us, desiring to use you & I uniquely to minister His Gospel of love to the people around us – both saved & unsaved. Practicing good stewardship with these relationships, and handling each one appropriately, is one more way to be worshipping God long-term. 

Whatever God has given you, big or small, be faithful with it. In your faithfulness, God will continue to entrust you with more & more if He sees you faithfully handle what you are given in this season of life.  

Worshipping by “Following My Commands” 

One of the most visible statements of our devotion to Christ is to follow His commandments. There is a powerful verse in John 14:15 where Jesus says, “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” Man, is that not relevant for today? Jesus says that if we love Him, we will keep His commandments. This means that following His commands becomes not only an act of obedience, but an act of devotion and worship to God. We can express our love for Jesus by following His commands! 

So, what are His commands? First, Jesus Himself says, 

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.” (Matthew 26:37-38, emphasis mine). 

Second, He says, 

“And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 26:39-40). 

Therefore, Jesus’ primary concerns are our love for God and our love for our neighbor. Since He also says that we can show our love for Him by following His commands, one clear way to be worshipping Jesus is to follow His commands: to love God and love your neighbor. 

Worshipping God is both a [cultivated] desire and an expectation for the believer. The Holy Spirit will cause you to desire & delight in worshipping God and He will also lead you into obedience to God (Ezekiel 36:26-27). So in one way the Holy Spirit will cultivate a heart that desires to be worshipping God and in another way we also must work to devote ourselves to God and delight ourselves in worshipping Him. We work with the Holy Spirit in doing this! He may do the heavy lifting, but we can stay consistent in spending time with God – and this brings me to the final point about worshipping God in being consistent. 

Worshipping by Consistency 

Finally, we can be worshipping God long-term by simply being consistent. Consistent in showing up to meet with Him, consistent in our prayer time & Scripture reading, and consistent in our pursuit of Him, His will, and His kingdom. Consistency is the key to endurance. Keep showing up, even when it’s hard, and God will honor your dedication to Him.  

While we want to do all that we can to be consistent with God and consistent in our worshipping Him, it’s important to know that God has so much love for us that if we fall short sometimes, He gives us grace. He covers our hearts & minds with His grace and gives us the undeserved, unmerited favor that is His charis grace. This grace is an empowerment for improvement! It becomes a safe space to grow and get better. By being consistent with God, and consistent in receiving His grace, we can be worshipping God for a lifetime. (And an eternity afterward!). 

Conclusion 

As I’ve mentioned in previous articles, worshipping God is simple. It may not always be easy, but it can always be simple. Today, we looked at three ways we can be worshipping God for a lifetime, with a longer-term perspective. Faithfulness & stewardship, following God’s commands, and being consistent are all things we can do to be worshipping God in ways that aren’t always immediate. 

Worshipping God is not just an activity, but it’s a lifestyle. And a lifestyle of worship is not something that lasts for a season or shows up as a passing trend, but a lifestyle of worship is meant to carry us into eternal life, where we will spend the rest of our eternal existence in the presence of God… worshipping Him. So, what better way to rehearse for our eternity than to spend the entirety of our earthly lives worshipping God?  

I want to be known as faithful. I want to meet the Lord and receive a “well done My good & faithful servant” from Him. I want to give it my all in worshipping God on this earth. And once I get to heaven, it will be no surprise to me.