When I was learning to ride a bike, and then in my teen years learning to drive a car, my parents consistently reminded me that the direction I was looking was the direction I would go. This seems obvious, but to a distracted kid (or even more distracted teen driver), I needed the reminder that if I was staring at the tree while riding my bike, I was most likely going to hit the tree. If I was staring out the passenger window while driving a car, the car was naturally going to turn that direction.
Worship is the direction our life is pointed. What we worship motivates us, becomes our goal, and creates the path our wheels will inevitably follow. It’s where we define ourselves. It’s where we find the end of ourselves.
Where Are You Looking?
When we worship something, we obey what it tells us to do. If you worship your own desires, you will obey them when they tell you to act, consume, follow, or look. If you worship your own self, you will obey the leading of your own heart. If you worship the god of culture, you will listen when that god tells you to buy, consume, devour, or believe.
And so, as we live our ordinary days, it is a small but powerful thing to ask ourselves each day, Where am I looking?
Am I looking at the finances we don’t have? Am I staring at the medical diagnosis?
Am I giving my thoughts, habits, and attention to my reflection in the mirror? To another person? To an unrealized dream? To a material thing I want, have, or need?
What is Worship?
When God invites us to worship, when we are compelled to worship, it’s not simply something we do with our voices or instruments on a Sunday morning—it’s the orientation of our lives.
Worship teaches us to look in the right direction and gives us unity in the body of Christ.
Worship isn’t just a practice of self-denial but rather an invitation to reorder our affections. It’s how we begin to properly redirect our attention. In Psalm 143:5-6 the writer sings,
“I remember the days of old;
I meditate on all Your works;
I muse on the work of Your hands.
I spread out my hands to You;
My soul longs for You like a thirsty land. Selah”
Remember Who God Is
We are a forgetful people. Forgetfulness has been in our bones since the beginning.
We forget birthdays and appointments, names and numbers. But if we spend our time meditating on the things of God, we begin to reorder our affections and loves. When we intentionally set our minds to remember, we reset our internal compass to true north. In Deuteronomy 6:12, Moses cautions the people of God to “take care lest you forget the LORD.”
When we remember and meditate on who God is, what He has done, and what He will do, we can adjust the direction of our view. It’s nearly impossible to meditate on God’s mercy and love, and simultaneously meditate on that person you hate. It’s going to be difficult to chew on that piece of gossip or fearful news headline if you’re also thinking and meditating on God’s sovereignty, omnipotence, and righteousness. Money becomes less of an object when we spend more time thinking on God’s provision and goodness than the number in the bank account. We must help our hearts remember.
Worship Is Where You Are Pointed
So, when we worship God and remember who He is, we tune our ears to the sound of His voice. When we begin to listen to the Spirit, we can begin to see what a life oriented toward God might look like. Isaiah 30:21 reminds us that we have the voice of the Teacher telling us, “’This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.”
Through the work of the Spirit, Scripture comes alive. The fruit of the Spirit begins to grow. Sin becomes distasteful as it loses its flavor. The grace of God becomes sweeter. The work of God in your inner life becomes more visible.
Andrea G. Burke
Andrea G. Burke is an author and is on staff at Grace Road Church in Rochester, NY. She is married to Jedediah, and they are raising their two kids, two dogs, two cats, a few strays, three ducks, and a lot of chickens in an old farmhouse outside of the city.
