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Greetings and welcome to 2024! It is hard to believe another year has gone by… am I the only one that thinks they seem to go by quicker now? My prayer, for all of those who read this, is that you find a renewed spirit for worshipping our Lord and Savior this new year. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing verses, quotes and passages from articles that I am reading, as I look to #worshipmorein24 (yes, I came up with that myself)

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect. Rom. 12:1-2 NLT

“Wait a second!”, you say. “What does my body and the way I think about things have to do with worship?” Well, I’m so glad you asked. To me, it is very simple. Worship is less about the songs that we sing and more about the heart and the outward actions of the person who is singing it. In fact, worship isn’t just about singing. Singing is one of the ways we express that worship, but we also worship through reading His Word, through prayer, and as stated above, we worship by giving our bodies and minds over to God. When we “bring our offering of praise” to the Lord, is our sacrifice one that “he will find acceptable”? (reread the scripture passage above if need be)

Does your mind, behavior, words, actions, et. reflect those that have been transformed by God, or do those things look a little more like the “customs of the world”? How about your social media posts? How about the way you treat or speak about others? Do you use the excuse of, “well that’s just the way I am…or that’s just the way I was raised”? (pay attention to the “letting God transform the way you think” section of verse 2)

Let us reflect on the time we spend worshiping our Lord this week. I pray that we all allow our hearts, minds, and bodies to be transformed and renewed in a way that only He can do. Let us be different than those around us. Not so that we can be seen as different, but so that Christ can be seen in us. Let our worship and our sacrifice be found acceptable. Let’s all do our part, to #worshipmorein24.