I love spending time with God. My worship of Him is such an essential part of my day; l need it like the air that l breathe. In the same way, being in church is the highlight of my week, because l can refuel my spiritual tank there in praise, worship, and service.
It has taken a lot of trial and error, as well as a huge amount of discipline, but over the years l have formed a routine where l set aside time every morning to worship God through prayer, music, Bible study, and journaling.
In John 4:24 it states that we should worship God “in the Spirit and in truth”, and l try my hardest to abide by this. My time with God has become my dedication of thanks to Him, to show Him how much l love Him, and to grow in my relationship with Him. His presence fills me with strength, gives me peace, and reminds me that God is always looking after me. Consequently, when l come out of my time with God, l am strengthened in the assurance of His love and that with Him, all things are possible (Matthew 19:26)!
God Worship
That being said, making time to worship God and commit me to Him with my entire being isn’t easy. The world offers values, distractions, and pursuits that tempt me to take my eyes off God. It’s like the world is calling out to me to use my time of worship to pursue endeavors. It considers more “important”. Hence, l am constantly being challenged to make a decision between the choices that the world is offering me and my choice to spend time with God in worship.
1 John 2:15 warns us to not love this world, nor the things it offers us. But unless you’re in an uncontested community, entirely cut off from the influence of modern-day society, what the world offers to entertain us, advance us, and ease our everyday lives can be pretty enticing.
Through trial and error, l have learned to recognize the ways l am being distracted by the world. I have worked on those areas to refocus my attention back on God. Always find myself being challenged to worship Him. I am still a work in progress, but l am getting better!
Here are 3 of my most pressing challenges to worshipping God in a world full of choices:
Caught between serving two masters: Technological distractions versus God
I got my first cell phone in the latter part of the ’90s. Before that, l was hightailing it to a payphone each time. We need to ring somebody when l was in a hurry. Additionally, l am appreciative of the creation of the web. Teaching myself how to apply make-up from YouTube tutorials kicked off my independent vocation as an SFX and Make-up craftsman.
Be that as it may, eventually, my life started to be centered around my gadgets, applications, and feeds. I was more charmed by the sparkle of the web and online media than being in God’s presence.
At the point when it quit wasting time that l was enticed to check my Whatsapp messages during church services. Sometimes realized the time had come to cut the computerized umbilical cord.
It is frightening how easily we permit the digital world to control our lives. God says in Matthew 6:24 that we can’t serve two masters. At the point where we can’t quit scrolling through online media feeds or we simply need to play one more round of “Candy Crush” on our telephones, that we’ve allowed ourselves to become dependent upon technical gadgets to traverse life and we’re not depending on God.
Nowadays, rather than taking a gander at my telephone when l start my day, l say thanks to God for the day He has made (Psalm 118:24). During my devotional time with God, l silence every one of my gadgets. In the event that somebody needs to get in contact with me during this time, they can leave a message. While in church, l turn my telephone off before the service begins.
We worship the things of this world, instead of God
One of my favorite forms of exercise is going to the gym. Albeit l workout to advance a sound way of life, a piece of me is extremely mindful of the “body objectives” that are being depicted on Instagram and sprinkled across the pages of magazines. Here and there, when l lift weights, l ask me whether l am trying to achieve the “body goals” promoted on social media as opposed to loving the body that God gave me.
The quest for a specific style, having the latest iPhone, or continually flaunting photographs of our fantasy lives is depicted as “goals”. In any case, truly, they are material things designed by the world to distract us and cause us to desire them rather than adoring God.
Romans 12:2 urges us to not conform to this world but to be changed by a renewing of our minds.
When l wind up going down the bunny trail of shallow pursuits. Then need to pause and remind me that the only commendable pursuit is that of looking for God’s essence.
We are only temporary residents in this world, but God’s love for us is eternal. Consider that Jesus made the ultimate choice to give His life for us on the cross. Making the decision to spend time with God in worship and praise suddenly becomes a lot easier. The choices of the world begin to quickly pale in comparison.
