Worship

Some of my greatest joys and most challenging moments stem from interaction with my daughters, Selah (3 ½ yrs.) and Kaiyah (2 yrs.). As a new parent I am continually trying to mold (otherwise known as con) my girls to do the right thing for the right motives. Through this process I am beginning to uncover what every veteran parent knows; it is much more challenging to help kids obey with the right motive than to just merely obey.


The book of Hosea records how God dealt with this same issues as He interacted with the children of Israel. The theme of this book is God’s loyal covenantal love for His people despite their unfaithfulness. Hosea 6:6 reads,

“For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather
than burnt offerings.”

God’s people had failed to understand His true desire for them. Instead of steadfast love and knowledge for God they brought him sacrifices and burnt offerings. So why did God want steadfast love? Had He not commanded them to bring sacrifices and burnt offerings? Yes, however the sacrifices were not an end in themselves. Instead, the purpose of the sacrifice was an outward demonstration of inner allegiance and love that their covenant with God demanded. The Hebrew word translated steadfast love in this verse is, hesed, which is the same word used throughout the Old Testament to describes God’s loyal covenantal love towards his people. God desired that they not only be obedient to His commands, but that their heart/motivation driving their obedience be right. Even though the Israelites continued the motions of worshiping God, their heart for God was nonexistent. This made the sacrifices and burnt offerings meaningless and offensive (Isaiah 1:11-20).


It is easy to get wrapped up into the motions of, “doing church”. Sometimes I have to step back and ask myself, “What is the driving force of my worship to God?” When we understand that our worship towards God should be an authentic response to His work within us, great freedom emerges. The driving force of our worship and obedience towards God becomes driven by love. May we not enter into worship with the wrong motives so as to relegate it to meaningless ritual, but instead may we live out the words of Hebrews 12:28-29, “Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire.”