Why Worship God Part I by Martin Wiles

I’ve been doing it since before I was born, but occasionally I stop and wonder why.

Going to church was never an option while I lived with my parents. Other than my paternal grandparents, my first babysitters were the ladies in the church nursery. When I attended “big church,” my grandmother fed me silver bells (Hershey’s Kisses) to keep me occupied. I cut teeth on chairs and pews, and unless I was deathly sick, I went willingly…or reluctantly, to every service. Being forced to attend worship services established a pattern that has continued to the present. But exactly why do I continue this routine-this ritual, week in and week out?

The psalmist described his worship as a joyful experience. Come, let us sing to the LORD! Let us shout joyfully to the Rock of our salvation…For the LORD is a great God (Psalm 95:1, 3 NLT).

I worship God because he’s powerful. A being vigorous enough to create worlds with a word deserves my attention. God commanded light to appear, and it happened. He instructed the earth to be filled with living critters, and they materialized. He commanded humans to surface, and they emerged. Formed from the dust of the earth and endowed with the breath of God, they walked around, reproduced…and sinned.

When humanity had made a complete mess of what God’s power created, he decided to send his Son to die for their sins. A god brawny enough to devise such an ingenious and loving plan deserves my worship. A god with enough power to cast my sins into the depths of forgetfulness grabs my attention, love, and service.

Have you been worshipping God only because it’s been the ritual you were taught? If so, why not change directions and worship him because he deserves it.

Prayer: Bring us Most High God into Your throne room of grace, and accept our worship as we thank You for being a powerful and loving God.