Have you ever taken the time to consider what a living sacrifice is?  On the surface it would appear to be a total contradiction – a paradox!  On the one hand, something that is living has life, breath, energy.  Yet on the other hand, a sacrifice has no life – it’s nothing more than a corpse – it’s dead!  So in essence, Paul is encouraging us to be the living dead!  Sounds like the first Christian horror movie!!!

Yet this is the essence of our ‘spiritual act of worship’.  Worship is not just about the music. It’s not just about clapping and lifting our hands – or even ‘singing in the Spirit’. While that may be an expression of worship it’s not worship in it’s entirety. Worship is an attitude – a way of thinking; it’s a lifestyle that runs to the core of who we are. Like any sporting discipline demands a posture from its competitors; there is a posture demanded from those who profess to be committed to a lifestyle of worship. It’s a posture of faith and surrender.

It was Jesus who said, “take up your cross and follow Me” (Matt 16:24). The cross of course is a symbol of what?  It’s a symbol of death, and it’s only as we die to ourselves that we can really live for Christ and have His purposes reach fulfilment in our lives.  It was John the Baptist who said, “He must become greater. I must become less” (John 3:30

The spiritual act of worship that the Apostle Paul speaks of involves that same process of surrender. A process where we  die to ourselves – die to the flesh, die to the hopes, die to the dreams and sometimes even die to the visions – visions that perhaps God has placed within our heart.  There can be no resurrection of those things without first a death taking place – and the death of anything in our lives can tend to be a painful experience.  Yet in many ways this is the calling of the Christian life – a daily process of death.  

One of the great tragedies of the modern era, is that people are so intent on ‘finding their life’. I believe it’s a sign of the age that we live in. People oftentimes display vigilant commitment to their own opinions, and unfortunately the church is not immune from the influence of those who profess such ideologies. I served in a church once where the Pastor gently rebuked an usher because he wasn’t really doing his job properly. In fact it was more a word of encouragement than a rebuke – and believe me it was deserved, because this particular usher had a real attitude.  At the end of the conversation, the usher involved said to the Pastor, “You can’t tell me what to do; you have no right to speak to me like that; I’m going to do what I want and when I want to do it.”  And with those words he stormed out of the building never to come to church again.  What a tragedy – yet just one example of someone who was intent on ‘finding his life’ – desperately clinging to his own opinion. In the end however it leads to a life of spiritual isolation and death. Is it any wonder that Jesus said, “Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10:39).

One of the most powerful pictures of worship painted in the entire Bible is found in Matthew 26:36-39. It’s a picture of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Many of us would know the story – the anguish, the fear, the perspiration, the droplets of blood.  While Jesus was the Son of God, we sometimes forget that He was also the Son of Man, and experienced the emotions and pain as such. Jesus wasn’t exactly in the Garden clapping His hands and singing songs. He was a man in despair – in a kind of moral dilemma.  He knew full-well what lay ahead of Him, yet at the same time He was fully aware of His position in the Godhead – that He only need just say the Word, and legions of angels would descend from Heaven, ushering the Son of God back to His rightful place at the Father’s right hand.  One of the greatest, most profound decisions of history was made when Jesus chose the agony of the cross. Many would see Jesus’ body nailed to the Cross of Calvary as the point where He laid down His life for the rest of humanity. While it’s true that Jesus died a physical death at Calvary it was in the Garden of Gethsemane where He really laid down His life – when He prayed,  “not My will but Yours be done”.

That’s worship!!!

21 Jesus replied, “The time is coming, ma’am, when we will no longer be concerned about whether to worship the Father here or in Jerusalem. For it’s not where we worship that counts, but how we worship – is our worship spiritual and real? Do we have the Holy Spirit’s help? For God is Spirit, and we must have his help to worship as we should. The Father wants this kind of worship from us.” Jn4:21 – 24 (TLB)

In the last issue we looked at what it means to worship God in Spirit. The type of worshippers the Father seeks are those who worship ‘under the influence’ of the Holy Spirit. Worshipping in Spirit  has implications for our human spirit as well, and involves a process where the desires of our flesh and soul come into alignment with the desires of our human spirit – a place where we don’t allow physical experience to impact the ‘spiritual act of worship’.

That being said, let’s now turn our attention to worshipping in Truth.

Worshipping in Truth involves us standing on the Truth of who God is. The Psalmist declares,

“The entirety of Your word is truth…” (Ps 119:160 NKJV). It is an undeniable fact that truth is a fundamental quality of God – It’s part of who He is and as worshippers living under the blessing of a new Covenant we are called to worship according to the Truth of what God has done (and is doing) in our lives.  Negative emotions, experiences and circumstances, while very real, will often take the extravagant edge off our worship because they attack the fundamental Truth of who God is.

You may feel rejection, but the Truth is that God accepts you as His own, because you have been bought with a price. You may feel depressed, but the Truth is that God has not given you a spirit of fear, but of power, love and a sound mind. You may feel discouraged, but the Truth is that God is completing a good work in you and will continue to do so.  It may be hard to admit, but often our worship is affected by other emotions and feelings of unworthiness, guilt, condemnation, loneliness and fear – of course the list could go on!!!

Mere emotional reality is in no way indicative of the Truth of God.  The reality is that God doesn’t call us to ignore our circumstances, but rather to overcome them. The man or woman who worships God in Truth is not a weak person, but rather a person of strength, determination and fortitude. He or she is not prepared to allow the voice of circumstance to override the voice of Truth.  The ability to stand on what is true brings a new freedom into a believer’s life. It was Jesus who said,  ”Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:32)

Several years ago I was leading worship in a great church, and as I looked out over the congregation I saw a man singing and worshipping with his hands raised to God. I remember him catching my attention because it appeared as if he was totally oblivious to anything that was going on around him. It was obvious he had a tremendous love for the Lord. After the service I was told by the Pastor that this same man had recently lost one of his children in a tragic accident – it wasn’t what I was expecting to hear.  What an inspiring example of Psalm 28:7 –   “The LORD is my strength and my shield; my heart trusts in him, and I am helped.”

It was King David who stated during one of his ‘down’ episodes – “I will bless the LORD at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1 NKJV)

The Living Bible translates it this way – “I will praise the Lord no matter what happens. I will constantly speak of his glories and grace.” (Ps. 34:1 TLB) 

…and that’s worshipping in Truth!!!

Zechariah 2:1-5 (NIV)
Man With a Measuring Line
1 Then I looked up—and there before me was a man with a measuring line in his hand! 2 I asked, “Where are you going?”
He answered me, “To measure Jerusalem, to find out how wide and how long it is.”
3 Then the angel who was speaking to me left, and another angel came to meet him 4 and said to him: “Run, tell that young man, ‘Jerusalem will be a city without walls because of the great number of men and livestock in it.

It goes on in verse 5 to say that God will be “a wall of fire around it,’ and the “glory within” it. Pretty cool stuff.

Context of the times:
The bible said that at the time there was a prophesy about the city that God was going to do something wonderful there and that he was going to make radical and historically significant change, just as has been prophesied over our cities and our churches…even our lives.

The thought I want to introduce to you through this passage of scripture is that we too- can be, have been, and often are like the guy in this passage. This is us all at various times in our passion and inexperience.

The first thing he did when he had received the prophecy and the word spoken over his city and his life was he got excited. I know often when a word like this comes, we get excited and we begin to plan it out in our heads- trying to visualize what this might look like. It’s a natural response when God speaks for us to get excited. The passage says that he then ran out and began to measure what he thought God was capable of in width and height and depth.

And it soooo slacked God off that he sent an angel to the man and said, “What are you doing?” The guy said, I’m measuring what Gods gonna do. Because God has promised to rebuild Auckland and make it better. God has promised to rebuild Tauranga and get rid of the injustice there. God has promised to make Hamiltron a better and Godlier city.

Lets pause here and reflect on our own lives.

The word comes. We get excited and then this is what we begin to say in our minds to God:

I think I know how far you can go here God. Why, wouldn’t it be amazing to see 10 people saved? I mean, we haven’t seen 10 saved at our service for years!
I know how far you can build God. I mean, there haven’t been any churches over 2000 in this country before- the climates not right for it.
I know how far our Praise and worship can go and we just can’t go any further. I know how good our songs can be with our limited skill.
I know the boundaries God can move in my life and my dream.
I know exactly how far I can go.
I know what I am capable of.
I know how much talent I have.

But God said to the man- put away your tape measure! And don’t tell me what I can and can’t do in this city and in and through your life.

Its interesting aye- we sound rational and it even sounds like a feasible and well thought out plan. “We will do this” and “I know just how far I can go here” and “we will see that” but the bible says in 1 Corinthians 2:9
… it is written: “No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love him”

Don’t get me wrong; God blesses the plans of a good man. So I’m not talking about planning. I’m talking about limiting God with your spirit and expectation. And besides, a good man is a man of faith because we know its FAITH that pleases God- not just being good.

HEAR IT TODAY WORSHIP LEADER. HEAR IT WORSHIP PASTOR: If God’s involved in something its immeasurable.

Just when you think you’ve seen it all. Just when you think your worship team has peaked. Just when you feel like you’re on the top of the mountain…God says, “don’t limit what I can and can’t do in your life”.

The only thing that will limit what God can do through your life is you measuring.

We measure ourselves out of the miraculous.
We have measured the miraculous out of our services. We call it arrangements. We call it set lists. We call it structure.

A.W Tozer says:
God is looking for people through whom he can do the impossible; what a pity that we only plan the things we can do by ourselves”

The question is: WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU PLANNED FOR SOMETHING IMPOSSIBLE?

Why don’t we see breakthrough in our worship today? Because we have limited ourselves to talent. We have measured ourselves out of the blessing of God.

We’re into talent. We rate success by gift. We rate services by response- how many hands were raised?
BUT GOD IS LOOKING FOR A WILLING SPIRIT…SOMEONE THROUGH WHOM HE CAN ENTRUST HIS PLANS AND PURPOSES. God is looking for a generation that will break through into unseen realms of worship. A new destiny and plan, not an old wine skin.

God is saying to you right now…if you could just get the tape measure off of me, I’ll show you things you’ve never seen or dreamed about!
God wants to see the sick healed in your worship.
God wants to see people break into action for the lost and broken in your worship.
God wants to see the devil driven back in our worship.

But we have got to stop measuring things in the flesh.

Tape measure thinking operates in the NATURAL.
But God operates in the SUPERNATURAL.

Tape measure mentality people don’t rock the boat-
…They measure it. They calculate. They think logically…and in doing so they manage God out of the equation.

They are pessimists not Optimists.

The bible says in MARK 6 Jesus cruised into his hometown but he could do no mighty works there. Check it out in vs. 5 and 6.
Mark 6:5-6:
5And He was not able to do [a]even one work of power there, except that He laid His hands on a few sickly people [and] cured them.
6And He marveled because of their unbelief (their lack of faith in Him). And He went about among the surrounding villages and continued teaching.

Why? Why couldn’t he do miracles there? Because they measured him up.

I’ll tell you exactly what happened:
Jesus walked into his hometown and straight away they got out their tape measures and said:
“Hey isn’t that Jesus the son of a carpenter?”
“Hey didn’t you grow up here? We know who you really are”
“Aren’t you that guy who was born to a supposed virgin”? ha ha ha!

The very next chapter it says he left them and walked into Capernaum and healed them all!

Tape measure thinking sounds like this:
-    Its OK for you, you have heaps of people. We don’t have anything.
-    I mean, if we had that sort of lighting gear of course we’d see Breakthrough
-    If we could just get the latest speaker then God would show up.
-    Well, of course if I were at Hillsong then I’d write great songs…they have the right environment for it.

Don’t compare yourselves to one another.

All God needs from you is to take the tape measure off your worship and let him speak to you. He has a limitless source of solutions for your problem. But we need to be a people who aren’t thinking of what we don’t have.

The glass is not half full or half empty. Start to thank God right now that you actually have a glass! You’re positioned in the place he wants you right now. Ask HIM to fill it by his spirit.

Examples of Tape Measure thinking:

Moses/Gideon/Pharisee’s
Same characteristics. Midget mentality. Small Mentality. Lack mentality. Not enough mentality. Tall poppy mentality.

Check out Moses:
God says to Moe “I want you to go for me” and the first things Moe does is he whips out his tape measure and says, “Who am I?” Now check it out. Moses is talking with almighty God and God says I want you to go for me. The next thing he says is “bbbbbbbuttt I don’t talk good…iiiiiiiim a stttttutterer”

In other words, I’m not Ps Paul de Jong, I’m not Ps TD Jakes, I’m not Israel Houghton…who am I? Who am I? Who am I? I’m not as good as…

Oh- I can’t sing like Wayne Hui.
Oh- I’m not as talented on the guitar as Isaac Graham
Oh- I haven’t got as good a gift as…

Who am I? Who am I?

You laugh but YOU DO IT.
I’m not Darlene Zschech, I’m not Israel Houghton…who am I? I don’t have a gift like that. What could God do with this piddly small gift that I have? I mean, I wouldn’t even want to buy my own CD’s cus I don’t think it’s worth much…

Personal comparison.
When Ps Paul said to me Tony you are going to lead worship at Pursuit of excellence with Darlene Zschech. I walked out of there and thought “But she’s a pro” and ‘She’s done albums” and “she’s amazing” Who am I? And straight away I got out my tape measure…
Darlene= BIG.
Me= Small.

But I tell you what. God doesn’t care about what you can’t do. God takes what you can do and touches it and it is always more than enough…your two loaves and 3 fish- more than enough. Your small jar of oil and little bit of flour- more than enough.
Always to the Glory of HIS name.

I tell you what- right now, tonight, today, wherever you are, faith is stirring and you are beginning to drop that Tape measure way of thinking. Even as I write this. The chains are dropping off your ministry. You’re going to lose that old way of thinking. A new season of fruitfulness is coming to your ministry. A new level of operation is coming to whatever you do.

Check out Gideon:
The angel comes to him and says Gid, arise mighty man of valor. And Gid whips out his tape measure and says, “I can’t go, I’m the least in my family, I’m too young”

More people don’t reach their potential because of the family around them. Aww c’mon Wayne, you’re just my brother. Aww- c’mon Sarah, you’re just the same old sister I always had. Has God REALLY anointed you? Have you REALLY changed? You’re still the same old person I remember growing up.

The story of Gideon has some special sentimental value to me. You see, when Ps Paul originally asked me if I would lead the arts team back in 2000 I said nope, I’m too young. I don’t have the skills. Who am I? Who am I? Ps Paul said to me at the time some thing I will never forget. He said “get out of the winepress Gideon & get out of my office!”. He reckons he didn’t say that but I seriously know he did…and truth be told, its probably one of the fundamental revelations as to why I am here doing what I am doing today.

For the love of God!!!- You are the anointed one! You have been set apart. It is no coincidence that you are here. It’s your season. It’s your time. Put away the old way of thinking. Stop leading and responding in the flesh…let the spirit man rise up!

When Jesus died for our sins on that rugged and shameful cross he put away the tape measure over our lives forever and said “its by Grace that you’re saved”…you’re fully accepted. My Grace has no measure. Its unending. It goes on forever. It’s enough for your sin. It’s enough for your weaknesses. There’s nothing that my grace can’t cover!
It’s enough for your past, stop measuring all the mistakes you’ve made. Stop listening to the negative voices around you and in you.

It’s your day. It’s your time to rise above the slums of our societal thinking and grab hold of the way heaven thinks. Hold on tight to what God says about you. He says in Ps 139 you are fearfully and wonderfully made. I tell you, everything you touch without that tape measure over your life will be full of God. Everything you are capable of- realized. Everything you’ve dreamt about- realized. Oh- and before I go, its not just for you this breakthrough anointing. It’s for your church- the bride of Christ. It’s to make her more beautiful for when he returns for her. It’s to bring her honor and integrity. It’s for your community and those around you. God is going to use you in ways you have never even dreamed about because His plan is to prosper you and bring you a hope.

TAKE THE TAPE MEASURE OFF YOUR LIFE TODAY, OFF YOUR MINISTRY, OFF YOUR GOD AND BEGIN TO BELIEVE HIM AGAIN.

“Since ancient times no one has heard, no ear has perceived, no eye has seen any God besides you, who acts on behalf of those who wait for him”
Isaiah 64:4

The 4th chapter of John’s Gospel contains one of the most commonly used passages of Scripture when it comes to worship.  It was Jesus who said, “Believe me, woman, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth.”

Jesus is very specific when it comes to the way we are to worship – This is how you MUST worship God.  Yet if we as the church, as the radiant body of Christ , don’t have an understanding and a revelation of what it means to worship in Spirit and in Truth, then trying to be obedient to this command would be like trying to push water uphill with your nose – a pretty impossible task.

So what does it mean to worship God in Spirit and in Truth?

Let’s look first of all at what it means to Worship in Spirit.

I believe the Word ‘Spirit’ refers to the Holy Spirit.  The Living Bible translates a portion of John 4:21 this way.  “…For it’s not where we worship that counts, but how we worship – is our worship spiritual and real?  Do we have the Holy Spirit’s help?

One of the great ministries of the Holy Spirit  is to help us, guide us and minister to us as we Worship God.  In Romans 8 we are taught by the Apostle Paul, “In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groans that words cannot express.” Prayer is  simply communication with God – and so is worship!

I’ve been in many worship services where God has supernaturally touched people during the worship. It’s not uncommon for someone to come up to me on a Sunday and say Paul, during the worship today I just couldn’t stop crying – it was beautiful.  We hear other testimonies on a regular basis of how people have been physically healed, or set free of some addiction during worship.  Just recently a person in our church gave testimony of how they were completely healed of crippling back pain during the worship. I am totally convinced that the Holy Spirit is not only passionate about our worship, but also passionate about connecting with us during our worship.

Secondly the word Spirit refers to our human spirit.  The Bible teaches that we are tripartite beings made up of body, soul and spirit. Our spirit is that ‘God conscious’ part of our make up.  It is that part of us that is alive and open to God. I’m sure you’ve heard it said that the ‘Spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.’  That is often so true of our worship – the spirit is willing and desperate to worship God yet our flesh man and our soul man may not be so eager!!!

Worshipping in Spirit involves a process. It’s a process where the desires of the flesh and the soul come into alignment with the desires of the spirit. The reality is that sometimes we know we should worship God but for whatever reason we just don’t feel like it. Perhaps we feel tired, maybe you feel you’re under attached from the enemy, you may have had some bad news or perhaps you’re just having a “bad hair” day.  Yet I like what King David says in Psalm 42: 5…

Why are you downcast, O my soul?  Why so disturbed within me?

Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Saviour and  my God.

Even King David – the ‘legendary Psalmist of the Old Testament’ – would experience times when he just didn’t feel like worshipping God.  In those times however he would command his soul to worship – “…for I will yet praise Him…”  He was determined to worship and praise God despite how he was  feeling.

Many times our feelings, our emotions, and our negative experiences take the edge off our extravagance in worship.  Yet John 4 reminds us that God is looking for people who will worship Him regardless of experience. It’s what the Scripture calls a sacrifice of Praise.  Of course anything that is sacrificed is dead, and so there are times when we need to die to the desires of our flesh so that we can truly worship God in Spirit.

In closing, let me encourage you to adopt the posture of a worshipper – despite what your feelings, emotions and personal circumstances might be saying. You may not feel like it, but lift your hands, sing a little louder, be a little more extravagant in your expression of worship – and you watch what God does – because that is the type of worship that brings pleasure to the heart of God.

1)    Just as romance in a marriage must be developed and maintained, so also the emotional intimacy between God and ourselves can and should be developed and sustained.  One of the many tools we use to help us with this is music.

2)    People are more likely to make changes in their lives if they are moved emotionally rather than intellectually.

3)    Music is a powerful and effective tool to be used as part of the larger vision of the Church, to draw people closer to the Lord. We need to be realistic and intelligent with our strategic use of music.

4)    Music is amoral, in other words it can be used for good or bad purposes.  It is an emotional tool, not a spiritual one, even though we know it can lead to a spiritual result.  The spiritual effect depends more on our motive and heart and purpose for using it, than the music itself.   Perpetuating a wrong belief can lead to unnecessary fear of secular music or unjustified laziness in Christian music.

5)    1 Chronicles 25 tells us of the story of David setting up the Temple Music.

vs 7  “Asaph, Jeduthun and Heman reported directly to the King.  They and their families were all trained in singing praises to the Lord; each one – 288 of them in all – was a MASTER MUSICIAN”

Music is an emotional tool and because of this, it is subject to such things as SKILL, FEEL, TASTE, OPINION and CLICHE.  If it does not move the listener emotionally, there is no point in using it.

6)    God responds to hearts reaching out to him. Our hearts are helped to do this with the use of emotional aids like music. It is our feelings and thoughts toward God that is the substance of our worship.  We choose to use music to help us but the responsibility is ours.  Our worship leaders and teams are there to help us but they cannot be held responsible if we do not worship.

7)    Sometimes we are tempted to come into a time of worship with the expectation of getting a nice warm ‘buzz’ or ‘spiritual fix’ for the day or week, and if we do not experience this we are disappointed.  Surely we would be better to judge a worship time by how God feels at the end of it, rather than how we feel.  Do we enter into this time with the focus on getting our own needs met or genuinely to worship the Lord? Our needs are not the focus, but in God-centered worship, we find they are met as a by-product of keeping our eyes off ourselves and onto Him.  As the Word assures us “If you draw near to Him, He will draw near to you” (James 4:7)

8)    Despite our circumstances and situations, He is God and deserves to be worshiped and exalted for no other reason than He is worthy of it!

Although it seems unnatural to put aside ones feelings when experiencing difficulties I believe nothing touches the heart of God more than the self-less worship of His children in the midst of trial.  It moves Him to compassion because to do this requires faith and God always responds to faith.  Again, our worship becomes an act of sacrifice.

Worship is not just cold blind devotion to a non-personal God; it is a perfect blend of reverence, fear, sacrifice, obedience and emotional intimacy. Several times in the New Testament the Lord refers to us as his bride. It is the perfect analogy to describe our relationship with the father. A marriage has, at its foundation, principles of commitment, loyalty, trust, destiny and indeed sacrifice, but it also has the other side, the side that involves the emotions, feelings, affection and adoration. It cannot be based on feeling and passion alone but without it lacks fire, passion and motivation.
This side of our relationship with God is often downplayed, sometimes even scorned, but it is absolutely essential, even commanded!

Matthew 22:37  “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment’”.

Worship is the intimate expression of our love for Him.  We can view this aspect as the romance of our relationship with him.

God’s purpose for us is to have an intimate, loving relationship with Him. Our response to God, in light of His desire for us, is our worship to Him.  It suddenly becomes so much more than just singing and music, but the very outworking and outpouring of every aspect of our lives.

These two definitions of worship are both essential in our walk with the Lord. Sacrificial devotion and service, along with intimate loving adoration.

Herein lies the reason we use music and other emotional tools.  To help develop this emotional aspect of our relationship with the Father.

Emotion plays a big part in our relationship with God.  Let’s not try to deny it by declaring it ‘non-spiritual’ and therefore unreliable and useless, or be irresponsible with it and try to make it the basis for our faith, but like all things, bring it into submission to the Lord and use it to bring glory to His name.
Summary
Worship incorporates both sacrifice and emotion.  With this in mind we ask ourselves two questions:

1) Does our worship ultimately help lead people towards greater sacrifice of their lives to God?

2) Does our worship communicate effectively in the emotional realm?

These two questions will guide us as we seek to improve our structures, our teams, our skills and ultimately our worship.

Genesis 22: 1-12 The first mention of the word worship in the Bible relates to the story of Abraham and Isaac.

Vs 5  “Stay here with the donkey”, Abraham told the young men, “and the lad and I will travel yonder and worship and then come right back” (TLB)

God had asked Abraham to sacrifice his only son, his son through whom God had promised an entire nation!  Nearing the end of his life, obedience to this command meant sacrificing not only his son but also his hope for the future, his dreams, his desires, his entire existence – in short, all that he held most dear.  To his servants, Abraham describes this decision to obey and sacrifice simply as worship.

This story illustrates a most important principle: at the heart of worship is SACRIFICE.  What greater sign of devotion can we give to the one we adore, than to sacrifice that which is dearest to us?  For Abraham it was his beloved son Isaac, a great sacrifice indeed for any parent.  However the Lord does not require anything of us that He himself has not already given.

John 3:16  “For God loved the world so much that He gave His only beloved Son…”

On the very same hill years later, God went through the same anguish that Abraham went through but where Abraham was spared the final act, God carried it through to completion.  He actually did sacrifice his son therefore we can be assured he understands the gravity of that which he asks of us.   He also knows that for us as humans, the process is not complete without struggle, for how worthy is our sacrifice if it costs us nothing! God is not disappointed in us should we struggle with something he asks of us; he expects it of us as human beings. It is the end decision that counts.  Christ Himself struggled intensely in the Garden of Gethsemane, “If it be possible, take this cup from me.. but then in one line, summed up for mankind the definition of true worship and wrote the greatest worship song ever written., yet not my will but yours be done”  (Matthew 26: 39).

His final decision was to give Himself fully to the Fathers will trusting in His eternal purposes. Surely this is the heart of true worship.  Following His example, we surrender ourselves in faith as an act of worship to God.

Romans 12:1  “Therefore I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship”.