“Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.” (Revelation 4:11)
A life of worship is a life where the worshipper GIVES himself over to God. God never TAKES from the worshipper; He RECEIVES from the worshipper.
When God sanctifies us by His blood, He calls us to willingly yield ourselves and the members of our body unto Him in the same way we once yielded ourselves and our members to sin and uncleanness. “… For as ye have yielded your members servants to uncleanness and to iniquity unto iniquity; even so now yield your members servants to righteousness unto holiness” (Rom. 6:19). Paul parallels our former life of worship to the present life of worship. He reminds those who were alienated from God of their former self-surrender: “Who being past feeling have given themselves over unto lasciviousness, to work all uncleanness with greediness. But ye have not so learned Christ” (Eph. 4:19,20).
Our sin career started small, but we built it up over time. At first, we gave in a little, but then “added sin to sin.” Our captivity to sin had its roots in our nature, but we zealously watered and helped the corrupt tree grow by our continual yielding to sin. In the end, our lifestyle was one of greedily giving ourselves over to our various idols, without a thought toward the true and living God.
When God saves us through Christ, it is to create a true worshipper where an idolator once was. He has given us all things that pertain to life and godliness. We are part of a holy nation, a royal priesthood, who are to consciously refrain from our former worship and willingly give ourselves to the God who alone is worthy of our every breath. Even as we were active participants in our previous life of idolatry, so our new life of worship must be actively nurtured and pursued. He has made us trees of righteousness that He might be glorified. He has set us free from sin to make us servants of righteousness. But we must diligently be after that which the Father seeks – the life of true worship which Christ has apprehended us for.
Let us answer the call to worship today! He has made it possible; we must make it actual.