We worship and praise God because God is great. He deserves it. Accordingly, Karl Barth says that worship is “the most urgent, the most glorious action that can take place in human life.”*

But we can’t miss the fact that how you worship impacts how you live. This isn’t about worship style. It’s not about whether we have long services or short, or whether we’re in a storefront or a cathedral. It’s not about whether you sing hymns or Hillsong, or have pews or chairs. It’s about your state of mind—your inner disposition. 

Jesus says that we are to worship “in the Spirit and in truth” (John 4:23). That’s what I mean by “how” we worship.

And it’s not for no good reason. God wants what is best for us. If I tell my kids to go to bed at a reasonable time, it’s not for no good reason; it’s because I want them to be rested and to be able to attack the next day with vigour. If I tell them to stop playing in the middle of a busy street, it’s not for no good reason; it’s because I don’t want them to get killed.

Since God is good and wants what is best for us, worshiping him “in the Spirit and in truth” is 100% for our benefit. 

With this in mind, Rosaria Butterfield has a helpful word: “worship is the launching pad for life.”**

Your Sunday mindset launches you into Monday. What happens on Sunday sets the tone for Monday to Saturday.

How you worship impacts how you live.

Prepare thyself to worship “in the Spirit and in truth.”

Worship is the launching pad for life.

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Notes: 

–The Up Devotional is published 5 days a week (Monday-Friday) and returns on March 28, 2022.

–*Donald W. McCullough, The Trivialization of God: The Dangerous Illusion of a Manageable Deity (Colorado Springs: Navpress, 1995), 107.

–**Rosaria Butterfield, The Secret Thoughts of an Unlikely Convert (Pittsburgh: Crown and Covenant Publications, 2012), 86.

–Bible quotes are from the NIV.