Worship God, Not Self

Why believe in God?

Well, why not?  Something made the universe or do you think if it was an accident? If it was, then we are all just matter and our choices don’t mean anything.  But we have feelings of love and compassion and even hate, which give us to have a purpose. But where did these feelings come from?  A mere chemical reaction in our brain?  Emotions run much deeper than that.

Scripture and the Church tell us we have dignity, that we are made in the image of God and given the opportunity to rule all other living creatures that roam the earth.  Some rebel and say they don’t believe in anything. Okay, no problem but would you rather believe a fantasy reality that convinces us to try and become better humans all on our own power and just at the end we all become mere dust? If that seems ridiculous, you might then decide not to believe or care about anything  but if you are wrong, what happens? Damnation for eternity in Hell. You can be hot or cold but not lukewarm. (Revelation 3:16).

Even those who profess to believe in God can live as if they are more important than God.  Many people post about God, which is a good thing, but some are using this expression as a self-center way of saying, ‘Hey look at me!’ rather than giving glory to God. This is a form of self-worship. There is a big difference between encouraging others or sharing insights to help people come closer to God and using writing as a form to get attention. If you write with an honest heart  to evangelize it is one thing but just pushing a message for self-indulgence isn’t truly a worthy cause. To believe in God means He must be more important than you are.

Give To God What Is God’s

Most of us never give true reverence when it should matter the most.  Why can’t we give to God what is God’s as Jesus told the Pharisees, “render to Caesar what is Caesar’s and render to God what is Gods.” (Mark 12:17). God asked to be praised and worshiped, but we worship by other means, which we are falling into forms of idolatry.

Though we are not perfect and we are given the gift of ‘free will’ as well as ‘faith and grace’ but we abuse it.

A little kid who has free reign in a candy or toy store, they take more than necessary.  As adults, we act the very same as little kids. This could be in purchasing too many channels for a cable bundle yet we never watch those channels. Or when we may purchase too much food and waste it. Even myself, I am a slight bibliophile. I have too many books and even duplicates of a few. I sometimes worry if I loan a book or movie out that it will get damaged or I won’t get it back. The point is what we sometimes think that is sentimental is nothing but hoarding things that we need to let go of and ensure we make room for more important things. 

Do we give God any real time ? And if not we should start by trying to give a small portion of our week, and if we really want to we give a small part of our day. But then we also tend to ask for only God’s help when we are in trouble but not when we are in a grace period of peace and happiness. Do we give thanks? Of course, most good Christians give thanks for their meals daily, but anything else, who knows? One thing is for certain is that “we all fell short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) and yet we know we are forgiven, but we cannot take it for granted. For that. we also know that faith without works is dead (James 2:14-26).

What’s The Meaning of  True Worship?

When it comes to praying or worshiping some may turn around and say well, “Jesus said whenever two or more are gathered I am in their midst.” (Matthew 18:20). This is true but, Jesus also built his Church and taught us how to pray. So when we say, ” I find God in nature”, this is true considering God made all things, but is this how He truly asked to be praised? Even St. Francis found God in nature but worshiped in Church as well.

If your parents asked you to do something as a child, did you do it or did you disobey them? The same principle applies even as adults. Have you ever experienced a time in childhood where your parents did not want presents but suggested that “it would be nice for you to clean your room or help with the chores?  Your counter-response was to then give what you wanted to give initially, a present, but not what was truly asked of you by your parents. The same dynamic applies participating in Mass;  Jesus said, ” Do this in remembrance of me”.

Even though God also knows we need to work to provide for our families, he has given us the Lord’s Day, not for actual resting per se, but to give worship, a small portion of the day, let alone small part of the week. There are seven days in a week, 168 hours in a week, and God is only asking one hour of your time.

We are all busy in this world with work, family and schooling and other activities but we can take a 60 second time out to give thanks before our day begins. Then throughout the day, whatever it may be, work or reading a book, dedicate that time as a prayer to someone. Especially for students offer up that time of homework in prayer. This could be a motivation to get the homework done to achieve a good grade for a beloved family member. The same could be applied in sport’s training. Remember that St Paul stated in 1 Thessalonians 5:17 “pray without ceasing.”

• I would like to ask you the reader to invite a friend who may not be Catholic or a Christian for that matter to attend Mass with you this weekend. If you haven’t been in a while maybe you yourself to come and ask questions, this could help you to reconnect with your commitments with God.