April 19, 2022

Bob Maas
“Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.”
Romans 12:1
“To this you were called, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example that you should follow in His steps. He committed no sin, and no deceit was found in His mouth. When they hurled their insults at Him, He did not retaliate; when He suffered, He made no threats. Instead, He entrusted Himself to Him who judges justly.”
1 Peter 2:20-21

As I was growing up my parents took me to church on Sunday morning. From nursery to high school we went to Sunday School and after that we went to the Worship Service. The implication was that during that hour was the time we spent worshipping God. That included singing hymns, reading the Apostles Creed, listening to a sermon and other forms of liturgy that made up the time set aside to worship.

When I began following Jesus and started studying the Bible, attending several meetings a week and memorizing Scripture, it didn’t take long for me to realize that God had something totally different in mind when He talked about worship. He wasn’t talking about one hour a week where we dedicate a few minutes to Him. He wanted all of me and that became a challenge.

I had my life divided into family activities, church activities, recreational activities, work activity, and many other areas. He wanted me to have fellowship with Him continually but I had my life separated between the sacred and secular activities. It was when I realized that I needed to surrender everything to Him that my complex life was exposed and I had to make choices in every area of my life.

The good news is that in my most recent past, I have been making a tremendous amount of progress because I have a whole new purpose for my life. I’m still making choices but more and more of my time is spent following Him.