It is clear when looking at the Bible that God thinks in very different terms about time then we do today in the western world. My own first thoughts, when time in worship came to mind, was Psalm 5:3 which I used years ago with a youth group, encouraging them to spend personal time in worship each morning. Along with that, I used a pamphlet by Stephen Olford titled, "Seven Minutes with God". Biblically, time in worship means much more than a short time every morning with God. We find in he O.T. Hebrew worship that special and sacred times were a yearly reminder that all time was in God's hands. These times demonstrated how God was working out His process, showing his faithfulness and the redemption of His people. It was sort of a rehearsal or reenactment annually of the way God had worked in the past and how He would work in the future. Our personal worship should be that same thing every day. And, our gathered worship should be very much the same kind of weekly rehearsal or reenactment.
There are some Biblical principles that inform "time" in worship. All time is God's gift and we are encouraged to number our days, making the most of time because our days are short. It is not some measurement of time as much as the content or events that fill time. In both the Old and New Testaments, we see that the very essence of time is worship, praise, joy, thanksgiving, and service. Time as we know it will end. Our future time should shape and determine our present behavior.
There are many times we are told to "wait on the Lord". When we wait on Him, He enables the righteous to make the most of the time given us by His Holy Spirit. Worship is the key to the believer's understanding of life and time. Only worship can put all of our experience as beings in the larger context of our ultimate purpose and meaning in life. All of our life is a response to our loving and merciful God. Our worship is a constant response of joy and hope through every experience of life including our work, play, and the discipline of service to Him. All of our worship and, yes, all of our time belong to Him! mjm
