Slaves of God: How is your worship?

This is episode 7 of our first series.  Last time we saw that the only way to show our love for Jesus was to obey his commands, and if we did not obey his commands, we were demonstrating that we did not love him.Perhaps we are not always obeying the commands of Jesus, but what about worship? Do we not show our love for God through our worship? Some have said that God wants our worship more than our obedience. But is that true?  Let’s start by asking what it means to “worship.”The word worship occurs approximately 188 times in the King James Bible. In Old Testament the underlying Hebrew word for the English word worship is most frequently shachah, which means: “to make low, bow, prostrate, fall down, reverence, and worship.” As an example, in Psalm 95:6 the call is made: To come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker.In the New Testament the underlying Greek word for the English word worship is almost always proskuneo, which means: “to kiss, fawn, crouch, prostrate, bow, reverence, and honor.” As an example, in Matthew 28:9, And behold, Jesus met them and said, ‘Greetings!’ And they came up and took hold of his feet and worshipped him. The actual act of worship described in both the Old and New Testaments sounds an awful lot like what a slave or servant does before his master, all this bowing, prostrating, and making low. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul in Romans 12:1-2, gives us the definition of spiritual worship, he says: I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.Consistent with the teaching of Romans, the Old Testament concept of worship is clearly tied the concept of service. Moses warned the Hebrew people not to go after other gods by serving them and worshipping them. Deu 8:19, 11:16, 30:17.The Lord appeared to Solomon a second time, after the Temple was built, and warned him about serving other gods and worshipping them. 1 Kings 9:4-7; 2 Chron. 7:17-20.King Amon is criticized for serving and worshipping the idols of his father, Manasseh. 2 King 21:21