By Dr. Kerry Knight, Emerald Beach Church of Christ
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God which is your reasonable (or spiritual) service.”
– (Romans 12:1)
Did you know that we serve God by worshipping Him? These two words are inseparable. In the Old Testament, the Jews offered animals at the Temple as sacrifices. Their worship involves offering bulls, goats, sheep and other clean animals as a service to God. The priests would serve in the Temple as the masses brought their expression of worship to Jehovah. Jesus rebuked Satan in Matthew 4:10 with these words, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.”’ Then there is Anna, a prophetess, who was also a widow, who at the age of eighty-four “did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day” (Luke 2:36, 37).
Even in the Old Testament, the whole conflict between Moses and Pharaoh related to the demand by God to “Let my people go, so that they may serve Me in the wilderness” (Exodus 7:16). The point was, we must take our livestock into the wilderness to offer sacrifices (worship).
It’s difficult to separate the words serve and worship, even in the Greek language, so why must we try. When we come together on Sunday morning to worship it is one of the ways we serve Him. Also, when we serve a plate of good to a hungry family it is also an act of worship on our part, for God gets the glory for our godly action. But here is a temptation to watch. Let us not think that worship on Sunday morning is all that is required of us. We are servants in all aspects of our spiritual lives. Just sitting in a pew does not classify us as a servant of God.
