Thursday, May 10, 2007
How long should we praise?
Is there a set time on how long we should praise God? I mean, I know what he did a couple thousand years ago is impossible to repay, but couldn't you just do what's right when the situation come up and worship God every day (but not the whole day), and spend the rest of the day doing whatever as long as you stay righteous, or are you supposed to dedicate every minute of every day to Jesus, or is there a certain time we have to spend each day with Him?
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Praise and worship isn't a thing you do. It's not singing. It's not reading your bible. It's not praying.
Praise and worship is the way you live.
Our worship to God is every movement, every breath, every bite of food, every blink, every thought, every single action. That is worship.
So is there a "set time" to praise God? Yes. The same amount of time you are living.
Also, there are endless psalms that speak of prasing God's name forever. One example:
"I will exalt you, my God and Kind, and praise your name forever and ever. / I will praise you every day; yes, I will praise you forever. / Great is the Lord! He is most worthy of praise! / No one can measure His greatness." (Psalm 145:1-3)
Anything is worship if it is done in the name of the Lord.
Eric, are you saying that the Crusades were worship? Christians murdering thousands of Jews and Muslims in the name of Jesus? Saul thought he was worshiping God by murdering Christians in the first century. He did these things in God's name.
These acts are clearly not worship. These acts are degrading the name of God. Jesus Himself said,
"Not everyone who calls out to me, "Lord! Lord!" will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Only those who actually do the will of my Father in heaven will enter. On judgment day many will say to me, "Lord! Lord! We prophesied in your name and cast out demons in your name and performed many miracles in your name." But I will reply, "I never knew you. Get away from me, you who break God's laws." (Matthew 7:21-23)
So, if simply doing something in the name of the Lord isn't worship, what is?
My understanding of the phrase "in the name of the Lord" is "done by the authority of the Lord". When the Bible says, "Go into all the world and preach the gospel, baptizing in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit", I believe "in the name" would mean "because God authorized us to do this". Therefore, the early Christians may have claimed to be doing the Crusades in God's name, but there is no way it was done by God's authority.
I agree that everything we do in our lives is praise and worship to God. That's one reason why we need to be very careful how we live our lives and who we live our lives for. "Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own? For you have been bought with a price; therefore glorify God in your body." 1 Cor. 6:19-20 This doesn't use the word "worship", but I think it is the same idea..."glorify God in your body". Whether we realize it or not, if we claim to be a Christian, everything we do shows whether we truly are or are not devoted to God.
That being said, early Christians did get together specifically to worship God on the first day of the week, not only to worship God, but also to encourage one another as they walked their daily walk. Songs, prayers, study, remembering the Lord's death through the Lord's Supper, should not be taken lightly. These are special times to worship God with other Christians and to "refuel our engines"!
Sorry, I tend to be longwinded!!
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