Worship

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God— this is your true and proper worship.
(ROMANS 12:1)

Thought for the Day: What we fix our attention, heart, and mind on is what we’ll worship.

What we fix our attention, heart, and mind on is what we’ll worship. What we worship becomes magnified. And what is magnified will consume us and perpetuate more and more worship.

If we think about this in light of food struggles, we can see how easily incessant thoughts of food can crowd out thoughts of God. We must beware: God made us to consume food, but food was never supposed to consume us. We were made to crave — focus on, magnify, and worship — God. God alone.

The author of Psalms beautifully illustrates why worshiping God is what we were made to do: “Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples” (Psalm 77:13 – 14).

The psalmist also describes how God performed miracles, such as dividing the sea, leading His people out of captivity, bringing water from a rock, and giving the Israelites everything they needed to survive (Psalm 78:12 – 16). But they eventually forgot all that God had done for them:

But they continued to sin against him, rebelling in the wilderness against the Most High. They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved…. When the LORD heard [their complaints], he was furious. (Psalm 78:17 – 18, 21a, emphasis added)

“They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.” Now this is a line I need to read over and over.

Honestly, many of the verses from Psalm 78 hit me hard, because they so specifically address inappropriate cravings and the reality of how God feels about them. And the truths in this chapter answer so many questions about why this journey has been such a crucial part of my spiritual growth. Like the Israelites, I have tasted God’s provision and the deep satisfaction of His love. I too have seen God work in mighty ways. I’ve been led through the impossible. He’s guided me through trials. He’s brought living water to replace my dried-up places. He’s given me everything, and I don’t want to forget.

Not with my mind, not with my soul, not with my heart, and certainly not with my body.

So, how do we make the shift from worshiping food to worshiping God?

We stop intending to worship God and start getting intentional. One small act of obedience is better than a hundred good intentions. “Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship” (Romans 12:1). The words, “I urge you,” prompt me to know this isn’t something I should “intend” to consider; offering my body to the Lord as an act of worship is something I need to get intentional about implementing.

What are some good choices you’ve been intending to make? How can you get intentional with those things today? This week? This month? This year? Think how good you’ll feel to look back on this day as the day you started walking toward victory.

Indeed, what we fix our attention, heart, and mind on is what we’ll worship. What we worship becomes magnified. And what is magnified will consume us and perpetuate more and more worship.

Dear Lord, please help me to identify my inappropriate cravings today. I offer them back to You and ask You to take them as my act of worship today. I want to crave You and only You. In Jesus’ name. Amen.