To Glorify God and Enjoy Him Forever, Part 1

One major trusted source of spiritual guidance is The Westminster Catechism.  Its first question and answer deals with worship:  “What is the chief end of man?  To glorify God and to enjoy Him forever.”[1]  This concise declaration has always intrigued me.  If glorifying God and enjoying Him is to be considered our chief end, what we were created to do, then let’s understand and carry out this task to the best of our ability, and through this act of relationship, receive all God has to give. 

To glorify God means to magnify His character through our own.  Our very beings act as magnifying glasses to show what God is like, in other words, to display His attributes.  So as we glorify Him, our identities as women really do come into play.  Of course there are many ways to do this, but a major one is through worship.

A woman’s worship, in general, expresses the beauty of the Lord.  She becomes like the fair maiden in Song of Solomon as she dances, raises her face to meet the gaze of her maker, and lifts her hands in surrender and love.  “I am my beloved’s and he is mine,” (3:6) and “He has taken me to the banquet hall, and his banner over me is love.” (2:4). What a fitting image of a beautiful woman enjoying who God has created her to be!  Yet beauty is just one of His wonderful attributes to be magnified!

Personally, a woman’s worship is between herself and Jesus, and she must stand in integrity before him, seeing that all known sin is repented of, all thoughts placed in his trust, and that she honors her King with the absolute truth of her inmost self.  The outward expressions may vary, from demonstrative and extravagant to silent and motionless.  The opinions of onlookers are irrelevant.  Integrity is the important thing.

It was my first Sunday morning in a charismatic church.  I was a brand new Christian who was filled with awe and wonder, that the God of the Bible was actually alive, and working in people’s lives.  A small congregation poured their hearts out to God in song, dance, and prophecy, for almost an hour.  When the worship time ended, every person sat down except one – me!  I was so impressed that God was actually present in the room that I wanted to remain standing out of respect. Integrity to me at that moment meant honoring my new found Savior in a way that was familiar to me.

So, while we are called to worship together in congregations and sing the same songs, we do it differently with the freedom to be who we are as women.  A simultaneous offering of praise, worship, and adoration from each heart and life in the room is what brings the presence of God we all desire and hunger for.  Every attribute of our glorious Lord is praised, and He is magnified, so that all who enter the room will be convinced and declare, “God is really among you!” (1 Cor. 14:25).

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[1] The Westminster Shorter Catechism, 1647.

Comments

[Nancy]

The first time I think I ever felt like had worshipped no one had to say a word to me. I could feel the spirit surrounding me. I had always been very self conscious about praying in front of other people and this one particular Sunday, only through the Spirit of the Lord I walked over to a couple I knew personally and took their hands. I invited them to come to the altar to let me pray with them. I would have to say that this was the first true time I'd ever felt the worship of the Lord in that church. The woman didn't mind it but the man resented me for a long time afterwards and blamed others for talking to me, but what I told him that day and what his wife told him was that it was the Holy Spirit leading me and that I, as a christian woman, had no control over what had taken place that morning.

Nancy

[Meredith]

Beautiful picture of worship, Chris. You captured the heart of worship. Thank you! I am inspired.

[Laura]

Thank you for this post. I do love the pictures you have painted. WOW! The photo you included is so great, too!

I love the Lord. I love music. Being able to express my love for the Lord through music is such an honor. When I stop and think about the privilege of being able to worship Him using a talent which He gave me and I love so much,. . . . I want to cry. OK, so it's true. I cry alot. I'm very emotional that way. It doesn't diminish the fact that this is all such a fantastic gift. To have a way to show Him my love and adoration, which truly blesses Him, is utterly amazing!!!