Church Attendance is not Worship

“On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, ‘Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.’”
Genesis 22:4-5

We have been looking at the essence of genuine worship and so far, we have gleaned tremendous lessons from Abraham, the Patriarch. And, you can listen to these messages anytime and anywhere throughout the day.  Just click here to subscribe.The options are virtually endless: play them on your ipod, Mac, Pc, ipad, and so on…

The above passage of the bible reveals the true form of worship. I’d like you to carefully consider what Abraham meant when he said ‘We will worship’. What did he refer to as worship? What was he talking about? What was he making a reference to? He was describing an action. He told his servants that he was going over to Mount Moriah with his son to perform an act. We know what it was- the sacrifice of his one and only son! Abraham referred to the sacrifice of his one and only son as worship. That’s what he called worship.

Think about that for a few moments. Reflect on that, because I’d like you to think about what you mean when you say you want to worship? When you say “I’m going to worship”, what are you talking about?

Genuine worship is about sacrifice; it’s not church attendance. Unfortunately, a lot of folks view worship today as attending church. On Sunday mornings a lot of folks take their bibles to church, sing and scream songs, thinking that they are worshipping God; but is that what genuine worship is about?

Genuine worship is whole hearted. It involves all your heart. It involves all your being. It is self sacrificing. It is courageous.

We can see the true meaning of worship in what Abraham did when he offered up his only beloved son. His was an unflinching devotion to God; a devotion to God that did not waiver; a devotion to God that was not timid; a devotion to God that did not look for short-cuts or cut corners; a devotion to God that gave everything, that went all the way.

This unflinching devotion to God that we witness in Abraham’s sacrifice of his son is the stuff that genuine worship is made of.