Many people worship with the attitude that “Whatever feels good to me is how I worship God.” It seems to be the prevailing attitude today in the worship of God. “If it makes me feel good, it must be acceptable to God, right?

It’s right to want to be encouraged when the church assembles. But often the desire for what makes me feel good overrides what God has commanded. Just because it makes me happy, doesn’t make it right. Nobody wants boring worship, and it doesn’t have to be if we follow God’s Word and worship with the right spirit.

A principle that God lays down in the Old Testament is believed to still be an important principle to guide Christians today. In Deuteronomy 12 God tells the people of Israel not to worship Him the way the foreigners worship their pagan gods. He instructs them to tear down their places of worship and to worship God in the place that He designates. And then He lays down this principle in verse 8:

“You shall not do at all what we are doing here today, every man doing whatever is right in his own eyes;” Dt. 12:8.

That’s it, that’s the principle. When it comes to worshiping God, we may not worship Him as we please.

In our local congregation, we worship God in song because He commanded it (Eph. 5:19. Col. 3:16). And it’s uplifting. We worship Him in prayer and by partaking the Lord’s Supper (Acts 20:6,7). And it really brings us closer to God. We worship God by giving of our means, through a weekly contribution (Acts 16:1,2). It’s a blessing to share and contribute to God’s work. These things are not offered because they are ‘right in our own eyes’. We love Jesus and want to honor Him.

Worship is a sure way to come into the presence of God and to please Him.

Categories: worship