Where Does Your Worship Go?

We are currently in a 3 week mini-series on Sunday mornings looking at the subject of being ‘Wired for Worship’. I don’t know if you have ever thought about that statement, but essentially we were created in the image of God, and our God is a God who loves worship. There is worship going on in heaven at every moment – not that there is really time as we understand it in heaven (but that is the subject of another article some time).

We were created to worship. Our chief aim in life was to worship God. However there is an interesting dynamic that occurred in the Garden of Eden during those few moments that we know as ‘The Fall’. God had instructed Adam and Eve that they could enjoy fruit from any tree in the except for one. We all know the story, there is a serpent who questions what God told them and leads them to that very tree and encourages them to eat from it. The serpent in this story is none other than the former lead worshiper from the ranks of the heavenly host – Lucifer himself.

His story is an interesting one.

Lucifer was the archangel in charge of leading the praise and worship of God the Father in heaven. As he was directing the heavenly host he began to desire some of the adoration they were lavishing on God for himself. He wanted to be worshiped instead of leading the angels to worship God. In Isaiah 14 we read about how Lucifer started to desire the worship that was only meant for God. He culminates this longing with this statement in Is 14:14, “I will ascend above the tops of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High." This angelic being was then hurled from heaven, along with 1/3 of the angelic host who followed him. We now know this character as Satan or the Devil.

Isn’t it interesting that the one thing that we were created to do – worship – is the very thing that God’s number one enemy tries to use to drive a wedge between us and our Savior? When we put things in the place where only God should be then we afford those things our worship, and we rob God of what is rightfully His. The Devil laughs because if we are not for God then we are against God, according to Matthew 12:30. So if we were created to worship, and we worship things other than God then where does that worship ultimately end up? When you worship your career, where does your praise end up? When you worship your money, where does your praise end up? When you worship anything that is not God who ultimately receives your adoration? Who are you really worshiping?

Kinda scary to think about really, isn’t it?