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January 25, 2007
FROM THE COUCH
Seeing Things Differently
Have you ever had a paradigm shift? If you’re like a lot of folks, you might be thinking something like this: “well, that’s a good question. Sounds painful! Tell me what a paradigm shift is and I’ll tell you if I’ve ever had one!” A “paradigm shift” is a fancy way of saying that something has happened to make me have a sudden change in the way I see things. I had a paradigm shift several years ago, and I’d like to share the experience with you.
I had been a Christian for some time, and I had been growing in my personal walk with the Lord.
I had really been growing through our Sunday morning worship services. Worship was a time for me to learn, and a time for me to be refreshed and get my tank filled for another week out in the world. It was a time for me to fellowship with the people whom I had come to embrace as family. It was a time for me to sing and connect with God through music. While all of this is still true for me today, something was missing in my perception of what worship is all about. To me, the whole purpose of Sunday morning worship was to see what I could get from God. I had confused receiving the benefits of worship with fulfilling my purpose in worship. Here’s where the paradigm shift came - The more I read the Bible, the more clearly I saw God’s character. The more clearly I saw who God is, the more clearly I saw who I was in relation to Him. And once I really got that straight in my mind, God opened my eyes to see what worship is really about.
The word “worship” comes from the Old English word “worthship”. To worship God means to show forth His great worth and to give to Him what He is worth. The book of Revelation gives a vivid picture of what worship will be like when we are in heaven. “The twenty-four elders fall down before him who is seated on the throne and worship him who lives forever and ever. They cast their crowns before the throne, saying, "Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created” (Revelation 4:10-11). Did you notice what is happening? God is the one receiving, and His people are the ones giving! Our primary purpose for worship is to give, and in turn we receive all of the benefits of worship that I mentioned above. The more we give, the more we receive!
This “paradigm shift” changed my life, because it made me realize that the primary focus of worship is not me, but God. And it’s when I put Him at the center and give myself to Him that He pours out His Spirit and refreshes me. My prayer for each of us this week is that our gift of worship this Sunday will bring glory to God, and in turn He will refresh us as He Pours out His Spirit.
Pastor Steve
Posted by Jennifer Herrmann at January 25, 2007 09:41 AM