Worship Wednesday: Worship & Sacrifice

For the first Worship Wednesday feature, I want to talk about a component of worship that isn't very popular...

Sacrifice

I think it is quite significant that the first mention of worship in the Bible is in Genesis 22: 5, when Abraham is on his way to sacrifice his son just as God had asked Him to.   

Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey, and I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship and return to you."

Can you imagine being commanded by God to sacrifice your child as an act of worship to Him, especially the child that had been promised to you and that you had waited so long for?!! I can just imagine what many of us would have said to God if He had commanded us to do this! It probably would have sounded something like this:

" But God, I don't understand!!! Why would you ask this of me??!! Are you that cruel! Did you miraculously give me this child just so that you could rip him from my arms? He has been my pride and joy! If you love me, than why would you ask me to give him up like this!"

Is that what you would sound like? I have a feeling that I would! In fact, I am sure that in my past,  I have sounded much like that as I wrestled with God over something that he wanted me to give up.

In this overindulgent society that we live in today, sacrifice is a dirty word! Even as believers, we have shunned talk of sacrifice. We have been living under the New Testament "grace period" for so long, that we no longer have any concept of what it is like to make sacrifices...or give up our first fruits as an offering of worship to the Lord.

As I think about worship and sacrifice, I think of what Job said in the midst of his loss:

“Naked I came from my mother’s womb, And naked I shall return there. The LORD gave and the LORD has taken away. Blessed be the name of the LORD.”

Job 1:21 NASB

So, why did God command Abraham to sacrifice his son, and why is that worship?

I believe that God wanted to make sure the Abraham's priorities were straight. He wanted to make sure that nothing was hindering Abraham from fulfilling his purpose, to worship Him and bring glory to His name!

The English word, worship, is derived from the Old English word, weorthscipe which simply means: to ascribe worth or value to something.
In other words, worship is our recognition of the worthiness of God through both words and actions. Worship is a lifestyle of putting God above all else and proclaiming His value to the world. Worship is being thankful for the sacrifice that He made for us when He gave His own Son's life!

God often asks us to give up something or puts us in a situation where we must make sacrifices so that we can learn to ascribe more worth to Him than to any other person or thing in our lives. Simply put, He wants to strip away the idols in our lives; He wants to rid us of any unworthy thing that we ascribe worth or importance to. He desires for us to acknowledge His worth...it is for that purpose that we were made.

Most of the time, the things that God asks us to give up are truly good things, that is why it is a sacrifice. We must give up something good in order to acknowledge that there is something better, or more worthy, of our time and attention! In fact, there is nothing good or worthy compared to Him!
A couple of years ago, I came across this song, and it has a huge impact on me everytime I hear it. The song is called "Clear the Stage" by Ross King. Please sacrifice some of your time to watch this video and recieve the message of this song.

 ⁴ “You shall not make for yourself an idol, or any likeness of what is in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the water under the earth. ⁵ You shall not worship them or serve them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children, on the third and the fourth generations of those who hate Me, ⁶ but showing lovingkindness to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

Exodus 20:4-6 NASB

Even in our theme verse for KINGdom Encounters (Matthew 6:33), we can see the Lord's desire to be first in our lives. In the passage surrounding our theme verse, the Lord tells us that we are not to put even our basic needs before Him. If we worship and serve Him first, then He will provide for us.

Take a look at the following passage of scripture:

 ³⁸ As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. ³⁹ She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. ⁴⁰ But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”

   ⁴¹ “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, ⁴² but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Luke 10:38-42 NIV

As you can see by Martha's example, even service to the Lord, things that desperately need to be done to further His Kingdom, can become a distraction from truly sitting at His feet in worship. We must give worship and glory to the Spirit of God and to His words instead of assigning worth to the works that we perform for Him.

I often feel like a Mary in a world of Martha's. While people around me are screaming for me to perform, all I want to do is sit at His feet, listen to His words and worship Him with my entire being. However, too many people today don't see the value of worship. People think that productivity is valueable, but they can not see the inner productivity that comes from worship.

For most of my life, I have felt like I've been forced to fit into the Martha mold by a world that puts emphasis on earning, doing and having, and in all honesty, the world has succeeded. God doesn't get the first fruits of my time and talents. That is why I am desperate for a change! I know that there are sacrifices that I need to make in order to become a "Mary" again. I'm not sure exactly what those sacrifices are right now, but I am seeking the face of God and asking Him to reveal to me what it is that I need to give up in order to ascribe to Him the worth that He deserves!

I ask for your prayers regarding this, and I will leave you with a beautiful worship song to offer to the Lord.

What do you need to sacrifice? What do you need to lay aside today?