Have you ever had a time in your life when you just needed to get away, find a quiet place and simply focus on God? A time to forget about the worries of your day…and life…and concentrate on your Maker. I think we all go through times like that. Maybe you’re going through one of those times right now. As a follower of Christ, it is important for us to spend one-on-one time with God on a regular basis. There are many ways that we can do this: Devotions or “Quiet Times;” Prayer; Journaling; Singing; Meditation; Reading the Bible. All of these, and more, when done between you and God, is what is called personal worship.
For some of us, these are great things that we’d love to have time to do. But sometimes there are just not enough hours in the day to get everything done. So instead of “making the time” to do these, we conclude that the Sunday morning worship services are our times of worship. But what about your personal worship? You see, Sunday morning worship services are great worship times, but that is corporate worship. When someone else joins me in worship – in honoring God - it is no longer personal worship. It has turned into corporate worship. (The question as to whether personal worship occurs during corporate gatherings is another discussion all together). If we wait until Sunday morning to worship God we are missing a very large part of worship – our personal connection with God.
We all worship, all the time. You may think you are waiting until Sunday to worship, but in fact you are worshiping all throughout the week. The question is, who – or better yet – what are you worshiping? Harold Best, in his book Unceasing Worship, states “…nobody does not worship…at this very moment, and for as long as this world endures, everybody inhabiting it is bowing down and serving something or someone – an artifact, a person, an institution, an idea, a spirit, or God through Christ…we are, every one of us, unceasing worshipers and will remain so forever…” When we come together on Sundays for worship, let us lift Him up with our praise and worship Him with our hearts. But don’t let it stop there. Continue to worship God through personal acts of worship throughout the week until we meet again to worship Him through corporate acts of worship on Sunday. Let’s not be too busy during the week to meet with the One who has given everything for us.