Why Worship Matters

July 8

Today’s Scripture Art and blog post were designed to help you learn why worship matters. If you’ve never put much thought into worship, it’s time to start right now! Here’s why …

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Note from Alyson: I have another treat for you today! I am excited to share with you Part Two of a speech written by my daughter-in-law, Heather, who you may have already met through our Etsy shop (she is the Customer Service Manager). As you will see, she loves to dig in God’s Word as much as I do! Take it away Heather…

In our last post, we defined worship according to the Bible, so we now understand how worship has looked from Creation, through the Fall, Redeemed in Jesus, and one day fully Restored.

But, as we live here and now, why does worship matter?

Why should we think about it?

What reasons does the Bible give for why worship matters that we should pay attention to?

3 Reasons Worship Matters

1} God is worthy.

In our definition of worship, we described it as “ascribing worth to something,” and we saw that we do this all the time.

While we daily ascribe worth to all kinds of things, there is One who is actually worthy of it.

Revelation 4:11 (ESV): Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.

Revelation 4:11 gives us a clue as to why worship matters. — *Purchase this ^ printable HERE.

He is the Creator of everything!

Anything that exists does so because He said so.

We exist because He created us. He has absolute authority over the things He has made.

He is also the only one who actually IS ultimately valuable.

We consider so many other things to be worthy of our time, attention, etc., but God is actually completely worthy of it.

Everything else we value comes from Him – He is its source and origin. Work, family, pleasure – God created it.

Psalm 90:1-2 (ESV): Lord, you have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

Colossians 1:16-17 (ESV): For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together.

The things we enjoy are enjoyable because they come from Him.

And He is more beautiful and valuable than the things He has made.

Because of this, because we were made by and for this infinitely worthy God, He is the only one who will satisfy our souls. Everything else we give attention to will disappoint.

They just aren’t enough.

This is why we exist. We are made in His image, to reflect Him.

We exist for His glory.

Revelation 4:11 Watercolor Scripture Lettering

2} We will worship.

We saw in the big story of the Bible that we are created to worship. The fact that we are made in the image and likeness of God means we reflect what our creator is like. We’re like little moving pictures of our unfathomable God.

So worship – ascribing worth – is built in. It’s not a choice.

But the problem lies in the fact that we are all broken by sin. The moving pictures of God’s likeness are blurry, distorted, and upside down. Rather than showing one another what He is like, we worship lesser things and reflect them instead.

Our lives are a war of worship. John Calvin called human hearts “idol factories,” constantly making something to ascribe worth to.

Paul writes this about the condition of our worship affected by sin …

Romans 1:21-23 (ESV): For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things.

We don’t have the option to not worship, so we need to pay attention.

We will worship, but will we worship rightly?

This is related to our next point …

Revealed: Why worship matters. Read on ... (plus Revelation 4:11 Bible calligraphy)

3. Worship shapes us.

Psalm 115:1-8 describes what happens when we worship gods that aren’t true gods. It describes people worshipping inanimate objects eventually becoming mute, deaf, and inanimate themselves.

It’s a poetic picture of this truth that we see all around us: we become what we behold.

Think about the 5 people you spend the most time with. Do you pick up their mannerisms and turns of phrase?

Or think about what you watch on TV. Do you see themes pop up in your mind throughout the day that you saw? Even jokes or funny scenes running through your head?

If you’re married, do you take on some of the idiosyncrasies of your spouse?

We are shaped by where we spend our time. What we fill our minds with shapes who we are.

We become what we behold.

This is the practical result. Right worship is God-centered, but we are not naturally God-centered.

Revelation 4:11 Hand-lettered Bible Verse

Right worship – fixing our attention on the character of God, both in private and in corporate gatherings – shapes us until we are transformed.

2 Corinthians 3:18 (ESV): And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.

Romans 12:2 (ESV): Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

What does this mean for us today?

If worship is all of life, does that mean I walk around singing all the time? Or that I play christian music while I organize spreadsheets? Or recite Psalms while I mop?

Maybe. But not necessarily.

It’s possible that a change in worship has less to do with your behavior and more to do with your motivation.

Revelation 4:11 and 21:3 - Scripture Art

Don’t get me wrong, sometimes it is our behavior. Sometimes I am choosing something tangible and physical with my time or money or energy that misplaces my worship.

Sometimes I am making a choice with my behavior that puts my comfort or pleasure or whatever at the center and that behavior needs to go.

But sometimes the work itself doesn’t change. How we think about it does.

Some questions to consider.

Does how I spend my time attribute worthiness to God?
Does what I’m doing reflect God’s creativity, goodness, order, mercy, love, justice?
Does how I work bring attention to God’s character?
Does how I parent reflect God’s love toward me in Christ?
How does this setting, circumstance, relationship, beautiful weather, etc., cause me to proclaim God’s goodness?
How does this minor thing (washing dishes, changing a tire, filing taxes) declare that God is worthy of all blessing and honor and glory?
Do I walk into situations mindful of God –
- Lord, as I work this job, thank you for providing for my needs, for giving me the ability to do this job well. Help me to serve my customers for your glory.
- Lord, thank you for these children. They are a good and precious gift. Help me parent them with love, mercy, and grace like You parent me, and remember that they and I belong wholly to you.

All of these things take practice.

Like I said, worship shapes us. We won’t just decide tomorrow to think differently about worship and now we see all of life as worship. This is our sanctification.

But you will worship.

By God’s grace, with the help of the Spirit, and with the help of one another in the church, let’s worship rightly – starting today.