Worshipful Obedience

"They traded the truth about God for a lie. So they worshiped and served the things God created instead of the Creator himself, who is worthy of eternal praise! Amen." -Romans 1:25

From the moment sin entered the world, man has been against God, but all along God has been for us. In the beginning when God created man and woman it was for the purpose of glorifying Himself, showing His love, and Himself, and to be worshiped. We were made to worship, however, the question is who or what do we worship? Everybody alive on this planet is bowing down and serving something or someone whether it is an artifact, idea, spirit, person, or God through Jesus. Whatever we follow we become like it as it shapes who we are. Worship is living our life individually and corporately as continuous living sacrifices to the glory of a person or thing. This is spoken clearly by Paul in Romans 12:1, this also happens to be apart of my life verse, "And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him."
This is our obedience...worship IS obedience. It is the highest form of worship. 1 Samuel 15:22 says that, "What is more pleasing to the Lord:
your burnt offerings and sacrifices
or your obedience to his voice?
Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice,
and submission is better than offering the fat of rams."
Obedience in worship reforms us, meaning to put or change into an improved form or condition. To amend or improve by change of form or removal of faults or abuses. Introducing a better method or course of action, and abandoning evil ways. When we obey it puts our flesh into submission to God, God's plan is to restore that which was lost in the fall. He wants to restore us back to Himself.
Worship comes from the heart. Whatever comes out of my mouth be it to God or an idol, is a result from the heart. I've heard my whole life, "what goes in comes out." Out of the heart are the issues of life, and it really comes down to a conflict with self...a SIN problem!
Last post we looked at Joshua's farewell address to his people, in this post we will look at Samuel's farewell address in 1 Samuel 12. This passage of scripture is powerful, and spoke so deeply to my heart.

6 “It was the Lord who appointed Moses and Aaron,” Samuel continued. “He brought your ancestors out of the land of Egypt. 7 Now stand here quietly before the Lord as I remind you of all the great things the Lord has done for you and your ancestors.

8 “When the Israelites were[a] in Egypt and cried out to the Lord, he sent Moses and Aaron to rescue them from Egypt and to bring them into this land. 9 But the people soon forgot about the Lord their God, so he handed them over to Sisera, the commander of Hazor’s army, and also to the Philistines and to the king of Moab, who fought against them.

10 “Then they cried to the Lord again and confessed, ‘We have sinned by turning away from the Lord and worshiping the images of Baal and Ashtoreth. But we will worship you and you alone if you will rescue us from our enemies.’ 11 Then the Lord sent Gideon,[b] Bedan,[c] Jephthah, and Samuel[d] to save you, and you lived in safety.

14“Now if you fear and worship the Lord and listen to his voice, and if you do not rebel against the Lord’s commands, then both you and your king will show that you recognize the Lord as your God. 15 But if you rebel against the Lord’s commands and refuse to listen to him, then his hand will be as heavy upon you as it was upon your ancestors.

16 “Now stand here and see the great thing the Lord is about to do.

20 “Don’t be afraid,” Samuel reassured them. “You have certainly done wrong, but make sure now that you worship the Lord with all your heart, and don’t turn your back on him. 21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless! 22 The Lord will not abandon his people, because that would dishonor his great name. For it has pleased the Lord to make you his very own people.

23 “As for me, I will certainly not sin against the Lord by ending my prayers for you. And I will continue to teach you what is good and right. 24 But be sure to fear the Lord and faithfully serve him. Think of all the wonderful things he has done for you. 25 But if you continue to sin, you and your king will be swept away.”

A LOT to be gleaned from the passage! I'll just throw out a few things...
If we continue sinning, we will not enjoy fellowship with God and we will end up destroying ourselves. We don't need a reason to worship God, our creator, as the people in verse 10 so boldly said. We will worship IF. And though we might be in disobedience right now, it's never to late to turn to God, and start to obey and worship Him with our whole hearts as verses 20-22 outlines. But this isn't just a one time thing, like we learned from Joshua, to "choose this day who you will serve." Saul tried to please God with spurts of religiosity, but real spirituality takes a lifetime of consistent obedience! We become Spiritual giants when our lives are built by stacking days of obedience one on top of the other, building a HUGE wall of strong character. Strive for that!
Also understand that the human heart is inclined predominately to idolatry and selfishness. Only when the Holy Spirit is within us do we love God and neighbor predominately. We are not able to change this inclination. We are fallen humans and are slaves to sin, and slaves cannot free themselves. It is our master. The answer is Jesus, only He can set us free from the bondage of sin. Sin, however, doesn't always appear to be wicked to human observation, which is why it is so easy to worship creation instead of the Creator! Our obedience is so fragile in itself. Worship is not salvation, obedience is not salvation, it is a result of salvation...a work, for I am saved to my works, but they do not get me to Heaven. "For all have sinned and fall short." The more we come to know the law of God, it shows us all the more that we are not obeying it. I need a Savior. So we Worship and obey our Savior because of His obedience and worship and sacrifice to the Father. The effect of sin was death. Death must be beaten by death. So in worshipful obedience Jesus died, and though man was against God, God was always for us!! 1 Samuel 12:24 proclaimed, "Fear [reverence,honor,respect,obey,submit] the Lord, and sincerely worship Him. Think of all the wonderful He has done for you."