In the Old Testament days, when people came into the presence of God, they brought with them their offerings. It was always something tangible, something that you can touch, smell, hear, and feel. There were cattle, grains, oil, incense, and other things. Although God expects us to bring Him an offering, it is not the offering itself that God is after. He is after the heart of the one who brings the offering. It is the obedience of the heart that he longs for. What does that mean for our present worship?          

Worship with a knife – and Isaac

The first time that the Bible mentions worship is when God tells Abraham to sacrifice his one and only son Isaac as a burnt offering. Abraham went to worship God with a sacrifice that was walking and talking innocently next to him – his own son. Was God really after Isaac - or after Abraham's heart of obedience? To worship God means to be ready and even willing wholeheartedly to sacrifice or kill that, which we hold so dear for ourselves. To obey God is to act upon what God says without any other debate. This kind of obedient worship even overwhelmed God. Look at the blessings that Abraham receives because of his obedient heart (Gen. 22: 15-18). When we worship God the right way – (not with a guitar and a song book) but by obeying his voice, by sacrificing our future, selflessly - we will truly see nations transformed.       

How close to God is our heart?

Moses and the Israelites sang a song to the Lord when they saw their enemies drowned in the sea. Their joyful emotion was expressed through singing and dancing. However, a few days later with that same mouth the Israelites grumbled against Moses. In spite of seeing all the miracles of God's hand, and the singing and dancing to the Lord, their hearts were still far from God. People can sing and dance to God, and still be far removed from obeying God. More than our moods, God wants our obedient heart.        

King David was a man after God's own heart. Not because he could play well on the harp or sing a thousand songs or even compose music. David knew of the sacrificial worship that God delights in. He was willing to sacrifice his position, his riches, his Kingdoms, his music, his everything just to dwell in the presence of the Lord. “Better is one day in your court than a thousand elsewhere!” Sacrifice is the heart of a true worshipper. David's heart was steadfast in God. He disrobed himself in front of God. He was willing to become even more undignified than that, he was willing to be humiliated in his own eyes. He pleased God by displeasing himself. That is why he could sing and make music with all his heart and soul and mind and all that is within him.        

As years went by, God became a tradition to his people. He spoke through His prophet Isaiah saying how much He hates their appointed feasts and evil assemblies and seminars and conferences. It has become a burden that He is weary of bearing them. The multitude of your sacrifice makes no sense. All those meaningless words with and without emotions, slow and fast rhythms, I have no pleasure in them. Stop trampling my courts, in other words stop warming up your pews! Don't spread out your hands in prayers, because I hide my eyes from you. Even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen to you. You have not learnt to do what my heart is after. If you are willing and obedient, you will eat the best from the land. But if you resist and rebel, you will be devoured by the sword.        

God saw that his people do not keep up to his word and that they disobey him in every way. Therefore, he sent his Word in a human form. He sent his only son Jesus as a sacrifice and earned all the worship that he needs through the obedience of his Son. Jesus became the sacrificial worship of God. This is my son in whom I'm well pleased. Jesus obeyed God. He said only what he heard his Father say. He did only what he heard his Father do. He came down to show us how to worship God by living it here on earth through obedience. He was obedient even to death. This kind of obedience to God - sacrificing everything, family, job, hobby, selfish desires....at the altar to ash and obeying (doing) only what God says to you is the highest form of worship we could possibly offer to God. If we are followers of Jesus, we got to follow him even in the same way he worshipped His Father - Obedience. If worship as we know today has to do with singing and dancing, shall we stop for a moment waving our colorful glittering banners to find out what Jesus said about music and singing as worshipping God?        

In the singing sessions, if the musicians are not very talented, we don't feel like worshipping God with all of our might and all of our strength and with all of our soul. If the musicians are excellent, we s(w)ing along and feel good. We even feel like we have worshipped God with all of our soul and all of our being. We are turned on. When the music gets slow, our emotions and moods change to being holy or repentant or even self-pity. And when the music gets into a faster rhythm, we party again! What credit is that if we worship God according to the flexibility of our moods? Even unbelievers do that in their music shows! Luke 6:32.        

God is worth way more than our emotions and singing and dancing. Father sacrificed His son Jesus not so that we could sing week by week and get our emotions satisfied. No! He offered His son Jesus as a sacrifice so that we in return out of His mercies offer ourselves as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God - this is our spiritual act of worship, according to the definition in the book of Romans 12:1.        

God wants us to completely give ourselves away to him so that He may take the lead and not that we sway according to our emotions, feelings, and mood. Worship is a spiritual act, not words or music to words. It is a deed. It is sacrifice. It is death to one's self. Denying oneself to follow him adjures dying to oneself. Dead people don't react, because they are dead. Obedience to God not in words, but in deeds, in action in everyday life is the highest form of living sacrifice that one can offer to worship God.

When we love someone very much, we show that in our actions too. We could say a hundred times a day that we love that person. But giving a hug or a kiss or flowers, going out for a dinner or movie, taking walks together and so on shows a deeper level of loving that person. To love God and to praise and tell him how much we appreciate him just with words is like flirting with God with our eyes. He wants our hearts after his heart. He longs for us to let him take the lead, and not our moods according to some tune. He longs for us to surrender in sacrifice and to obey Him. He longs for us to worship Him and not to worship the worship. Our moods are driven by the flesh. Let us bring these fleshly desires to the altar and ask God's fire to fall upon it and burn it. Then we can stand up and go out joyfully to obey what He has called us to do - preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, set captives free and disciple our nations. This is our spiritual act of worship.        

Once we have obeyed God doing what He has commanded us to do, once we have offered ourselves as a sacrifice before God, and our sacrifice has been pleasing and acceptable in His presence, once when we know we are not consumed by the anger of God, in spite of our sacrifice, then and only then we shall make music and sing and dance before the Lord. For in His mercy he has spared us and accepted us into his presence. Those who worship in the temple of God and in the altar will be counted, says in Rev 11: 1-2. We are the temple of the Holy Spirit. When we offer our lives on the altar everyday as our spiritual act of worship we will be counted. Let us dare not trample the outer court, bringing our meaningless offerings and getting satisfied with our flesh.