I know, I know. You know what worship is. You go to church every week. You only listen to christian music. You only watch christian television. You only read christian books. You only wear christian t-shirts and you only eat at Chick-fil-a. You know all the latest worship songs. All the newest trends in the christian music scene. You even know what a v-neck is. Or, you don’t know any new worship songs because you believe that the old stuff is better. Who ever said we were supposed to sing a new song anyway!? Oh, God did. No matter where you are in your christian walk, no matter what your experience with God, no matter what you were brought up in, we would all agree that worship is important. But we all approach worship differently. It’s actually a really big deal. Whole movements and denominations have been started because people approach worship differently. Churches have been built, and split, because of our different views of worship.

What’s your view of worship?
Soft piano or acoustic guitar accompanied by soft vocals?
Organs and hymns?
Celtic guitar and singers with accents?
Southern gospel? 
Hillsong?
Loud electric guitars and live drums?
Early 90’s christian music with electric drums?
A cappella?
Jewish flavored music because that’s what Jesus listened to?
24/7 worship?
Slow music?
Fast music?
No music?

Please forgive the sarcasm, I’m only trying to bring to light the different ways we worship. All these different approaches and styles of worship are good. Usually, we tend to gravitate towards that style that we’re most comfortable with. If you were raised with the hymns, it’s hard to break away. If your early worship experiences were southern gospel, it’s difficult to embrace a worship style like Hillsong, and vice versa. We all see worship differently, but God doesn’t….

God sees worship the same. We approach and celebrate Him differently, but the end result is the same – He is glorified. If He’s not, then it’s not worship. Simple.
Now for the point…. God is bigger than music. God is bigger than style. God is just bigger. And worship is bigger than music as well. We all say that we know this, but do we practice it? I want to challenge you today to worship. Not sing a song, but worship. You don’t even have to lift your hands all day while trying to type at work. Just worship. Let’s look at a few examples of worship.

When we forgive your neighbor who has sinned against you, that’s worship.
When we repent quickly and completely, that’s worship.
When we are genuinely thankful to God for something, that’s worship.
When we put obedience above sacrifice, that’s worship.
When we love our spouse the way God intended, that’s worship.
When we offer the Gospel to a broken world, that’s worship.
When we sing off key, but it’s from our heart, that’s worship.
When we believe God even though our world is crumbling, that’s worship.
When we speak about what God’s done in our lives, that’s worship.
When we love and build the church because that’s what Jesus is doing, that’s worship.
When we decrease so Jesus can increase in our lives, that’s worship.
When we make time for our family, that’s worship.
When we come before God honestly, with no religious pretense, that’s worship.
When we think about His word, that’s worship.
When we are saved by God’s grace, that’s worship.
When we grow in the things of God, that’s worship.
When we die with the hope of heaven in our heart, that’s worship.
When we do anything that puts God above us, it’s worship.

My challenge to you today: worship.

Life can be a lot like a super market checkout counter. Imagine refusing your change every time you paid. Doesn’t make any sense does it? Yet people all around the world are saying, “keep the change, I don’t want it.” The cashier would reply, “but sir, this is your change! You should just accept it.” “No thank you, I don’t like change.” Sounds foolish, right? Yet most people do not like change, but change is coming. Refusing change in your life is like refusing your change at the store. It’s change, and you need to accept it. It’s easier to accept change in small doses often rather than all at once. Now you may be saying, “I’m not ready for change!”, but God is.

Isaiah 43:19 NLT

¹⁹ For I am about to do something new.

See, I have already begun! Do you not see it?

I will make a pathway through the wilderness.

I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.

God wants to bring positive change to your life today. He wants to begin something new! Like that pathway through the wilderness, He’ll lead you through those difficult circumstances. Like the rivers in the dry wasteland, He wants to bring refreshing change to your life. Open your heart to God and stop saying, “keep the change”.

Ever heard this quote and thought, “if a clock’s broken, how could it ever be right?” If you have, then you’re not alone. Many people today think that you can only learn from the so-called “experts”. Check out this passage out of Proverbs 24:

“I passed by the field of the sluggard

And by the vineyard of the man lacking sense,

And behold, it was completely overgrown with thistles;

Its surface was covered with nettles,

And its stone wall was broken down.

When I saw, I reflected upon it;

I looked, and received instruction.”

Proverbs 24:30-32 (NASB)

I know what you’re thinking… “What could a lazy man lacking sense who let his crops go to waste ever teach me about farming, work, or life?” And you have a valid point, my friend. Now lets see what our passer-by learned from his observation.

"A little sleep, a little slumber,

A little folding of the hands to rest,"

Then your poverty will come as a robber

And your want like an armed man.”

Proverbs 24:33-34 (NASB)

If you humble yourself and admit that you don’t know everything about everything, you’d be surprised by what you could learn. Open your eyes today, ask God to be your teacher, but don’t miss the object lessons all around us. God can use anyone or any situation to teach us something, no matter how broken the clock.

I had just purchased an itunes gift card from Walmart and needed to return it that same day. An itunes gift card is different from other gift cards in that until you scratch off the silver film on the back to reveal your unique card number, it’s just an pretty piece of plastic. I attempted to return it, but the costumer service clerk refused to even try. She kept telling me about their gift card return policy, which I admit I am mostly ignorant about, but she wouldn’t even try. So I left disappointed when the nice lady who checks your receipts at the door told me to go back and speak to a manager. So I did. I was very polite about it. Once I asked that same clerk to speak to a manager, she said, “well lets just give it a try first and see,” to prove to me that there was nothing they could do. Then…… it worked. She was very kind and apologetic, and I was reminded of this simple truth, Try. Yes, you might fail. But don’t try and you’ve failed already.

God doesn’t speak to us in a way that we could never understand. That would defeat the purpose of Him speaking in the first place. When God speaks to us, He fully intends for us to understand Him. God wants to meet you where you’re at. He won’t talk over your head because He loves you, and His whole intention in speaking in the first place is not just to be heard, but to be understood by you. So resist the pressure to “sound spiritual” when you’re praying. God isn’t fooled. He can hear you the rest of the day as well. You didn’t use big religious sounding words and phrases at the local super market or with your family, so don’t pretend to be something you’re not.

“the Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as one speaks to a friend.”

Exodus 33:11 NLT

Talk to God with respect and love. Be yourself. Try it right now. I dare you.