Worshipping God in the Woods

by Bud Lambert

There are six Greek words used to convey the idea of our English word worship, each adding a special meaning. In general, we might say that worshiping God is the act of humbling ourselves in response to overwhelming evidence of the greatness of God.
Under the new covenant, Christians are to collectively worship God on the first day of the week ( Acts 20:7; I Cor. 16:1,2). At this time there are certain specific acts of worship we are to perform: preaching (Bible study; Acts 20:7); praying ( Acts 2:42); singing (Col. 3:16); eating the Lord's supper ( Acts 20:7); and contributing (I Cor. 16:1,2). These acts serve both to humble us, by providing evidence of God's greatness, and to give us an avenue through which we can express our humility.
Even though God sets the first day of each week as a time for us to collectively worship him, he does not intend for us to worship him only on this day. As individuals, we should constantly seek to know and better understand the greatness of God, and we should constantly humble ourselves to God.
One way we can worship God individually is by taking time to observe nature. This can be substantiated by the apostle Paul's statements in Romans 1:19,20. Here he says that what can be known about God is plain to man, because God has made it plain to him. "For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so men are without excuse." It would be a good idea for all Christians to spend time worshiping God by taking time to observe nature.
However, we must be careful! Even though worshiping God in the woods is a good, biblical idea, we must not carry it too far. An example of carrying it too far can be seen in Romans 1:24,25. The Gentiles, instead of allowing nature to aid them in their worship to God, allowed nature to take the place of God. "They exchanged the truths of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the creator, who is forever praised. Amen!" ( Romans 1:25). Anyone who does not obey God's commands for us to come together and worship on the first day of the week with other Christians just so they can go deer hunting, fishing, boating, golfing, etc., is misusing nature.
Let's use nature to help us in our individual worship of God, but let's not allow it to keep us from obeying commands of God.

• Preparing for Worship -Dec 10, 2006
• Worship and Time Management -Dec 03, 2006
• Genuine Worship -Jul 09, 2006
• Worship -Apr 09, 2006
• Is All of Life Worship? -Jan 22, 2006