Worship Series - Interview with Paul 4

I: As we bring this much-appreciated conversation to a close, Paul, are there some guidelines that every believer can keep in mind as he or she ponders ways of expressing the worship of serving?

P: Yes, I believe there are guidelines that help each of us worship God with service that He accepts. Although the worship of serving may be expressed in a thousand different ways, those expressions are the outgrowth of some vital constants. Let me summarize a portion of my letter to the Roman church, since it addresses your question.

For each of us, life consists of our private world and our public world. Let's touch the private world first. Your private world encompasses what happens inside you. Step one is crucial: If you want Jesus Christ to be Lord of every area of your life, you will commit yourself to become a living sacrifice to Him.

No more substitutions, as was the practice in the days of temple worship. You offer yourself—your entire self—to God.

Step two is this: As you yield your mind to Him as part of that sacrifice, He will renew it like foliage in the spring. The result is a metamorphosis, created in you by God, which will make you significantly different from those who buy into the world's pattern of priorities and practices.

But I must remark that it is a bit misleading to call this process a sacrifice, since by "sacrificing" yourself you gain and by retaining yourself you lose.

Back to my point, this misperceived "abnormality" is actually a normal effect of your worship of loving and your worship of abiding.

Incidentally, if you want to study an excellent example of such nonconformity, look at the life of Jehoshaphat. What a guy! He was "something else"—a dramatic and godly man.

Added to this commitment and this transformation in your private world is a third step: you will assess yourself in a sober and realistic way.

You need a sane, wise estimate of the capabilities God has given you. This is how you discover your customized design!

Your public world encompasses your relationships with those around you. Are you joyfully and diligently using the gifts and abilities that God gave you?

Do you love others sincerely, rather than simply playing the game? Are you eager to honor others above yourself? Are you hardworking?

These and other questions reveal the many ways we serve as an act of worship. It goes deeper than what we do; it is also how we do it and why.

When we serve in worship, God makes our service effective. The fruit is His work; we are just the branches.

I: Thank you, Paul, for living what you preached.

P: To the only wise God be glory forever through Jesus Christ!

I: Amen.

Well, I hope you've enjoyed - and learned from - this interview with the apostle Paul. Won't it be interesting to truly talk with him when we all get to heaven? By the way, if you don't know if you're heading for heaven or not, please contact us and we'll guide you through the process of ensuring that your citizenship is in heaven!

© 2007 John Garmo. If you would be interested in using this article, please contact us at Info@MissionToChildren.org.