Worship as a Way of Life

  ...But you have come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to myriads of angels, to the general assembly and church of the firstborn who are enrolled in heaven, and to God, the Judge of all, and to the spirits of the righteous made perfect, and to Jesus, the mediator of a new covenant, and to the sprinkled blood, which speaks better than the blood of Abel. –Heb. 12:22-24

When Israel was still enslaved in Egypt, God told Pharoah, "Let My people go, that they may worship Me in the wilderness..." (Ex. 7:16b, emphasis added). After about three months of walking and camping, on the third day of their arrival in the wilderness of Sinai, "Moses brought the people out of the camp to meet God, and they stood at the foot of the mountain" (19:17).

The people were "trembling" and not sure what to expect. It had been thundering and flashing lightning all morning. Thick smoke had been gathering and covering the mountain. Then, the mountain shook. God was coming down. The people were in the presence of Almighty God! He gave them the Ten Commandments verbally, then immediately told them to make sacrificial offerings to Him in response (20:24). Why this response? Mount Sinai was an explicit place of worship.

But, things have changed since then. God's people are no longer at Mount Sinai, and we don't offer sacrificial bulls and goats anymore. So, what do we do instead? We worship God from our hearts with praise. "Therefore," Hebrews says, "...let us show gratitude, by which we may offer to God acceptable worship..." (12:28). And the kicker is, now, because of and through Jesus—the mediator of a new covenant (as opposed to the Mosaic covenant at Mt. Sinai)—people's worship literally reaches God in heaven. That's why Hebrews goes on to say, "Through Him [Jesus] then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God..." (13:15). 

We must begin to see heaven as accessible and God as real and majestic. We must see our worship as joining that of the angels and saints in heaven as often as we offer it. We must embrace worship as a way of life. We must continually offer up a sacrifice of praise!