This morning in Bible study Nell Anne posed a question: What is worship?
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego bowed before King Nebuchadnezzar. Why was this action different than bowing to the golden statue on his command? We discussed how bowing before the king was a sign of respect; bowing before the statue was an act of worshipping an idol.
How do you define "worship"? If you're not sure, then give it some thought this week. Write your ideas down, perhaps in your journal. Then, consider sharing your definition with the group as a response to this post.
Worship: (v) [you fill in the blank.]
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I came across this thought in my journal today: "When we worship Jesus, we say 'I choose you.' "
ReplyDeleteYes, along those same lines, I heard someone at a conference one time say that worship means "to kiss toward." He told a story about how he kissed his daughter for years before one day, she finally kissed him back. He talked about the love he felt coming not only from him to her as he kissed her, but from her to him - finally! He said he couldn't even describe what it felt like to have that love reciprocated after all those years. I really liked that parallel.
ReplyDeleteOf course, John Piper also has some really cool insights on this. I love when he describes what "magnifying" God really means, drawing the distinction between the magnification of a microscope (making something small bigger) and a telescope (making something huge appear closer to its true size). He said one way is heresy, and the other way is worship. Very cool.
The Greek word for worship is: proskuneo. According to Strong's Dictionary, this word is probably derived from some words meaning to kiss, like a dog licking its master's hand.
ReplyDeleteThis was the 1st Greek word my husband and I ever looked up when we were new Christians. We were shocked by this part of the definition for worship!
Now that I have a dog, that image has become a lot more meaningful.