You are What You Worship

As I continue to examine the sin of idolatry in my own life, I have been made acutely aware that I am always worshipping. As long as I have breathe in me, I am giving my affection, adoration, emotion, time, homage, loyalty, and reverence to something. This is worth paying attention to, because worship involves sacrifice, and a sacrifice always costs something. I better be sure that what I am sacrificing myself for is worth the cost

Not only that, worship plays a role in shaping me as an individual.  A.W. Tozer says that "whatever a man wants badly and persistently enough will determine his character." Jack Hayford says that "worship changes the worshiper into the image of the one worshipped." In other words, what people see in me is a reflection of the one I am worshipping.

I am made to bear the image of another. It works like this. Worship money, become a greedy person. Worship sex, become a lustful person. Worship work, become a power-hungry person. Worship the approval of man, become a people-pleaser. Worship fitness, become a vain person.

The bible warns us that this will happen. The prophet Jeremiah says that those who follow after worthless idols become worthless themselves (Jer 2:5). The prophet Hosea says that people become as detestable as the thing they love (Hosea 9:10).

I am here to tell you that whether you are aware of it or not, you are always worshipping something. Not only that, but you are constantly being shaped to reflect the image of whatever you worship.  If you are at all concerned about the image you are reflecting,  than there is nothing more important than knowing what you worship. If you're unsure of what this is, it is easier than you might think to determine. Ask yourself these questions:

What do I wake up in the morning for?

What do I make the biggest sacrifices for?

What am I most afraid of losing?

What angers me the most?

What makes me the happiest/most fulfilled?

What do I place my hope and trust in when everything around me is uncertain?

What do I run to for comfort?

What brings me joy, peace, and hope when  I have a broken heart?

Where do I look to for approval, significance, or worth?

When I feel guilty for doing wrong, what do I use to appease my conscience?

My speculation is that something came to your mind in answer to the majority of these questions. If it did, there is something occupying the throne of your heart.

You are a worshipper.

I suspect that there are some of you who have never thought about worship before because you do not consider yourself to be religious, spiritual, or god-believing. You are not one of those crazy people who gets down on your knees in awe and reverence of a deity.  You would never put your life in danger or sell all that you have for the sake of a god. You are getting through life on your own terms, determining your own destiny, and striving for individuality.  But are you really?? Think about it. If you have an answer to any of the above questions, there is someone/something that you are placing your hope and confidence in. That is a form of worship. Your belief that you can live and not worship is false. Therefore, you are actually conforming to someone else's image. This doesn't sound like control over your own destiny or like the power to achieve individuality to me. Your idols lie to you.

 

For those of you who grew up going to church or with some religious background, the concept of worship is likely very familiar to you. Like me, you are consciously aware that everything you do is an expression of worship. My challenge to you is this: Is Jesus Christ the answer to all of these questions? I know for me, He isn't always, and that's a problem. There are still idols in my heart that are taking the place of Jesus Christ, and He is not pleased to share the throne of my heart with anyone or anything else.

Joshua reminds us of this:

And if it is evil in your eyes to serve the LORD, choose this day whom you will serve, whether the gods your fathers served in the region beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

(Josh 24:15)

Choose whom you will serve. There are only two options presented here, the LORD or the gods of their fathers and pagan nations around them. The prophet Elijah, too, warned the Israelites.

Elijah went before the people and said, "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow him; but if Baal is God, follow him." But the people said nothing.

1 Kings 18:21

In other words, If I am not worshipping the LORD,  I am worshipping an idol. There is never a moment when I am not serving/worshipping something. 

If you think this is an outdated, Old Testament, pre-Christ problem, think again. Jesus spoke about this very thing.

"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also....No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money."

(Matt 6:21;24)

Do you see what Jesus is saying here? What you treasure is what you devote your heart [your inner spirit] to, and it can only be fully devoted to one thing at one time. The Psalmist pleaded with God to receive this kind of heart (Ps 86:11)

Teach me your way, O LORD; I will walk in your truth: unite my heart to fear your name.

In other words, he is saying, unite all my powers, affections and desires and concentrate them on one thing, the fear of the Lord. That is the solution to this double-minded thinking. 

A united heart. 

If you are worshiping anything other than Jesus Christ, you are wasting your life. Because I love you and I care about your soul,  I plead with you. Stop wasting your life! Your idols are nothing but liars and thieves. They are killing you. They are making you into everything but the person you want to be. There is a God who cares about your soul infinitely more than any man-made idol that you've conceived in your mind or created with you hands ever could. Trust in Jesus Christ! He died for you and offers you abundant life.

I know first hand that this is not an easy decision to make.  It requires humility, discipline, and sacrifice. It means laying down my idols so that Christ is exalted. It means letting go of earthly treasures to make room for Christ to dwell in my heart. It means submitting to God's will when He chooses to bring me through trial and tribulation so that I can see how worthless my idols truly are.

But it is worth the cost, and I refuse to give myself to anyone but to the one who gave Himself for me.


Ask yourself, what am I worshipping today?

Because whether you believe it, realize it, accept it, or like it...

 You are a worshipper, and you are being conformed in to the image of whatever you worship.

The best choice you will ever make is to allow yourself to be conformed to the image of Christ. There is only one way to do this, and that is to serve and worship the LORD your God only. You do this by loving Him with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength. (Deut 10:20; Luke 10:27)