My mouth will speak in praise of the LORD.  Let every creature praise his holy name for ever and ever.  Psalm 145:21

A young man invested his life savings in a new Ferrari sports car, and having made the investment of his life, felt that he ought to have someone bless his car–just to be on the safe side.  Unsure of whom to call, he phoned the local Catholic priest, who said, “Yes, it’s a bit out of the ordinary but I do baptize things for people”; but then he added, “Oh, by the way, what’s a Ferrari?”

Thinking that if he didn’t know what a Ferrari was, his blessing wouldn’t be very good; he gave up and called a Baptist preacher who quickly said, “A Ferrari.  Great!  Zero to 60 in 5.7 seconds.  Fantastic car…I just worship that model.”  He paused and then added, “By the way, what’s a blessing?”

Some understand blessings, and others know what worship is; but I’ve come to the conclusion that many of us confuse blessings and worship.  A blessing is not something someone does; it is something you receive.  Worship is what you do, and the blessing of the Almighty follows the act of true worship.

Have you ever walked out of church or a Bible study grumbling, “I sure didn’t get much of a blessing out of that service”?  The fact is:  You didn’t get much out of it because you didn’t put much into it.  Worship is the response of the believer to the majesty and greatness of the living, true God.  The old English word for worship means “worth-ship.”

In other words, worship is our response to the true greatness of God.  It is something which you do, something which you give to God; and the blessing of God which touches your life is the result of having been in His presence.

Anything, no matter what it is, which is done perfunctorily, as a ritual, time after time, becomes meaningless and routine.  At times there is comfort in ritual.  It eliminates our involvement in the worship experience, but then we have become spectators to someone else’s worship and not active participants ourselves.

When we were living overseas, my family would occasionally be in a service which was conducted in a language my children didn’t understand, and they would grumble, “It’s boring not being able to understand a thing that is going on.”  We began to stress the fact that you don’t even have to understand the language to be blessed by worship.  You can think about the greatness and majesty of God, of His character and goodness.  You can even hum the songs along with those who may be singing in Chinese or Russian or Tagalog and still be part of the family of God at worship.

There is one more thing which needs to be said.  The word blessing is not an easy word to define in English.  The Greek word which the New Testament uses is sometimes translated “happy,” but it is far more than a feeling of light frivolity.  It bears the idea of well-being, of having received something of the nature and expression of the Almighty.  It is the warmth which comes as the result of a father’s smile, the sense of well-being which a mother generates as she holds her infant.

In relationship to God, His blessing is the result of His goodness and mercy to us.  It is the warmth of His presence. Worship comes first; then His blessings always follow.  Think about it. It can change your life!

 

Resource reading: Psalm 145:17-21