Worship: Worthship

My husband loves baseball. As a boy, he enjoyed collecting baseball cards – shoeboxes of them which, of course, were shoved with great care under his bed for safekeeping. That is until the fateful day when his treasure met its doom.

Her son away at college, Don’s mom did what most moms do. She cleaned his room. In the purge, she threw the shoeboxes of baseball cards into the trash. Apparently, she did not see them as the treasure he did.

Busy with college, my husband did not give much thought to the shoeboxes and their fate, until our son was born. As Brian grew, so did Don’s interest in collecting baseball cards. His once-loved hobby was now something to be shared. Years later, father and son still search and stash together, building their own new treasure housed in boxes and binders. Yet in the fun, from time to time, a pained cry or two can be heard when dad comes across a top-dollar card that once sat in a shoebox under his bed.

It is true that a few of the cards in Don’s boyhood collection are now worth quite a bit of money in the baseball card market. But the original collection’s value had nothing to do with monetary worth. Its value, derived by the boy to whom it belonged.

Worthship

The word worship comes from an Old English word weorþscipe.  It means worthship or to ascribe worth to something. Our worship, therefore, has everything to do with God’s worth.

Remember the shoeboxes full of baseball cards? Their worth was in the eye of the beholder.

When our worship is small, it is because our view of God is small. And when our worship is nearly nonexistent, it is because we have stopped beholding Him as treasure.

True worship is offered in acknowledgement of God’s worth. It is an expression of His worthship.

Recognizing God’s worthship helps us offer true worship with reverence, honor, and respect. This means worship in its truest form goes far beyond the singing of songs. It requires complete engagement and surrender of our heart, mind, strength, and soul to the One who is worthy.

Oh come, let us sing to the Lord; let us make a joyful noise to the rock of our salvation!
Let us come into his presence with thanksgiving; let us make a joyful noise to him with songs of praise!
For the Lord is a great God, and a great King above all gods.
In his hand are the depths of the earth; the heights of the mountains are his also.
The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land. Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker!
For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand.

Psalm 95:1-7

Behold

Is your worship an expression of His worthship?

No matter where you fall on the true worship continuum, there is always room for growth. And the best way to grow is to behold.

Behold who He is. Behold His mighty deeds in history and in your life.

Worship with all that you are because He is worthy.

---