I have told choirs for years that nothing will happen in our performance on Sunday morning that doesn't first happen in rehearsal. How we sing reflects how we have practiced. Even professional football players say that their performance is in direct relationship and a reflection of how they have practiced. Where this is true for some things, it is not true of worship. With worship, it is the opposite.
In our worship we live all week in direct relationship or as a reflection of how we worship as the gathered body on Sunday and how we worship privately during the week. As we express our praise, thanksgiving, confession, and desire to obey Him, it paves the way for how we will live as a result of our worship.
Romans 12:1 states "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service." The NIV version translates the last phrase, "your spiritual worship". When we come before the Lord as a congregation or alone in worship and lay ourselves upon God's altar, we are saying to Him - "Here am I, Lord make me your instrument of glory. Live your life through me all week long for your honor and your glory. May everything I do, everything I say, every place I go, every thought I think, and every relationship I have reflect my adoration and worship before you."
It has been interesting in studying the biographies of great musicians to find that Haydn, Handel, Bach, and even Beethoven knew that all the glorious soaring music, great harmony and transcendent joy of their music originated with the Master Creator and Composer. Every good gift is from above and always points back to its source. At our best, we are merely mirrors that reflect His divine light. Everything about our lives should shout, "Don't look at me! Turn to Him. Look up, brother!"
Could it be that if we would more faithfully turn our eyes toward the light of heaven, we would more quickly be molded into the image of our Lord Jesus? Maybe if we simply place all that we have and all that we are on the altar of worship before God, He will be faithful to fill it with divine, holy light and we will be transformed by His glory! Let us look up and celebrate all that we see. Then, our lives will become a reflection of our worship. Or, as our Pastor has said in his present series our walk will be affected by our worship. Worship precedes our walk. Our life is a reflection of our worship. mjm
