How do we worship God?

Many people go to church to worship God. Denominational differences in Christianity may involve different styles of worship. But what is worship essentially? What should worship be? How do we worship God? We try to love God and all that he stands for. Love is the beginning and the end of worship. To worship we must love God with all our hearts and minds. And when we do that, we will desire to be with him always. He will pervade our hearts and minds. Every thought and every feeling will pass through his being. And when people meet us while this is going on, they will see God in us.

To worship God is to be in love with God. Worship is romance of the highest kind. The human being in love with God is what worship is. How can such love be expressed? How can a visible human be in love with an invisible God? To love God in this way is possible only when we love what God loves. And God loves the world. God loves his creations. To love God, we should love what he created. We should love one another. We should love the other person as we love ourselves. And we should love all other forms of life that we see around us. We should love this beautiful earth and take good care of it, just as we take care of our own bodies. When we do all this, we are worshipping God, who is the reason for everything.

To love God means to love what God loves. And God loves us all just as we are. We should learn to love like God. And we should learn from God, who will teach us to love, when we welcome him into our hearts. God will come and stay within us and teach us how to love what we once could not love. He will teach us to love our enemies, and care for those who do not care for us. He will show us how to love, even when we face opposition and rejection. He will enable us to go on loving, even when our love is not returned. This is the kind of love we need to learn, if we want to worship God.

We do not worship God by reading the Bible studiously. We worship God by practising the love that the Bible reveals. We need to experience the love of God, and we need to share it with others. We do not worship God by merely attending church. We worship God by loving one another, not only in the worship place, but also outside it. We should particularly focus on loving those who are outside church. The people of God should actively love those who do not know God. We reveal God to others, only by loving them, as God himself loves us.

So, to worship God we should love others, just as they are, without trying to transform them. Only the love of God can transform people. So, we should learn to love like God, and let that love do its miraculous work in the people we love. We should not judge others unfairly, and we should always remember our own sins, when we try to point out the sinsa of others. To worship God, we should be conscious of God's atoning love all the time. We cannot let a sinful conscience separate us from God. For we will sin as long as we live in this world. Let our sins not separate us from God. We should remember that nothing can separate us from the love of God. Not only should we know this, but we should also actively receive that love daily by approaching God repentantly. We should also love God back by loving what he loves, with his own kind of love, which he will teach us, as we continue to walk with him.

Samuel Godfrey George

God Touched Me On My Arm

A few months ago, I was standing at the billing counter of a supermarket, feeling depressed about my life. I was considering the various challenges that I was facing in my life. At that moment, someone touched me on my arm, and I turned quickly to see a little child with a big, joyful smile on his face. In return, I smiled spontaneously at this bright, beaming boy, amazed that such a thing could happen. As I left the shop, I turned to the boy to say goodbye, and he smiled at me again happily, though a little shyly. As I travelled back home, the thought of the child's spontaneous gesture filled my mind, and from nowhere tears welled and streamed out of my eyes. "O Lord Jesus, that child was You!" I said, utterly overwhelmed. Later I said to my family, "Jesus came to comfort me. I must not worry."

Today, as I began to worry again, a friend sent me a note that her young son said hello to me. That made me reflect on God’s comforting nature again. Was this gesture also from God? When something wonderfully spontaneous happens, I immediately think of God. God sends his smiles and hellos through his people. Maybe this hello was from God, telling me that all will be well.

After I saw the smiling boy at the supermarket much trouble entered my life. My old computer failed irreparably. Every day I had to walk out of my home to a nearby computer centre, where I connected with the world in some meaningful way that I could find. For three months I did this, despite an aching ankle, which made these journeys strenuous. Many times, I cried out to God, and asked him, "When, O Lord, will you deliver me from this?" But at that time I did not recall the child who brought the smile of God into my life.

Earlier today, in other distressing circumstances, as I sat before my new computer, I recalled the smile of God, when I received this message from a friend, who conveyed the spontaneous greeting of her child. And it made me think of God and how he comforts in small but significant ways. May I receive this comfort from God and not worry about my life.

Let me end with this strange incident. As I lay in bed during the time when I was without a computer, a single drop of water fell on my bare back. Startled by it, I rose to find out how this drop could have fallen on me. There was no source above me from which this drop could have issued. And then I thought of God again. Did God do this? Did God signal His concern for me at that difficult time in my life? God knew how I prayed. I would lie at night in my balcony, looking at the stars in the sky and imploring God in prayer thus: "I'm not asking you for a car or a house. I'm asking you for a computer to do your work and to convey your message of love. Will you not grant me this? How could you be so silent? Do you not care?" And then the drop made sense. Perhaps the Lord was crying with me, comforting me in my time of suffering. Strangely, no drop has fallen on me since then.

When God connects, he leaves little room for doubt. The smiling child, the boy who sent his hello, and the drop that fell are unique incidents that leave little room for any other interpretation in my mind. I am a believer in God. And I choose to see these gestures as divine tokens of loving care. Thank you, God, for touching me with your love.

Samuel Godfrey George

Do you know how blessed you are?

Do you know how blessed you are? Have you acknowledged the many blessings in your life? Do you know that there are many children who have nobody to take care of them in this world? Have you heard that there are some children who have no parents, and no home? You have been blessed with loving parents and a beautiful home. You have a darling little brother who needs your love.

You live in comfort. You have all that you want. If you need something, your parents will satisfy your desire. If you hurt yourself, they will rush to your aid, and provide you the best medical care.

A child is the greatest joy for a parent. I know that because I have no child. I know what I am missing when I see you. A person may make a lot of money, have many houses, and possess all the wonderful things that money can buy. Yet all the possessions in the world cannot match the precious gift of a child, a child of one’s own.

You are your parent's greatest joy. Similarly, your greatest joy should be your parents. You too may achieve and acquire everything that is within your grasp. Yet nothing in this world will match the love of your parents. What they feel for you is something that no one else can ever feel.

Give thanks for the greatest gift, the love of those who brought you into this world. Give thanks for all the gifts that you have been freely given. Acknowledge the Giver of all gifts. Thank Him. He lives within you. He waits for you to speak to Him. There will be a smile on His lips when you whisper your thanks, with all of your heart and mind and might.

Learn to give. If you have a lot, give some of it to a child who does not have much. Let your giving be motivated purely by love, and by nothing else. Your deprived brothers and sisters deserve nothing less than that. And when you give something away, you will discover that the one who lives within you will give you even more. Go, celebrate your life. You, my child, have been blessed.

Samuel Godfrey George