Sports fans love their teams. That love is expressed in a variety of ways. When the team is rallying, fans will clap and cheer and chant things like, “Let’s go, Mets!” (Guess you can tell I’m a Mets fan!) Many fans come to the ballpark or the arena sporting the jerseys of their favorite team and players. Some fans will paint their faces, or even their whole bodies, with the colors of their favorite team. And many fans will adorn their cars and even their homes with bumper stickers and banners displaying the names and logos of their favorite teams. Basically, fans worship their teams, and that worship can be quite intense.
Believers should have the same kind of intensity when they worship the Lord. In fact, our worship of Him should be even more intense. When we come together on Sunday mornings to worship together, we should be as vocal as sports fans are with their teams. Does that mean we have to be loud? No, but we can be. We need to use our voices to show how much we love the Lord, how grateful we are for all He has done (Psalm 95:1). When we sing, we should sing with understanding of the words we are using. We should think about what we are singing to and about the Lord. When we really think about what we are singing, the intensity of what we feel about Him will come through.
The intensity of our worship should also be evident in the way we look. This doesn’t mean that we need to wear t-shirts or hats that bear the name of Jesus. We don’t need to paint His name on our faces. The intensity of our worship should result in a joy that is shown in the countenance that we wear. After Jesus ascended to heaven, His disciples worshiped Him and returned to Jerusalem. How did they return? With great joy (Luke 24:52)! Their joy as they worshiped Jesus must have been quite evident to those who saw them, since Luke made a point of writing about it. The love that we have for the Lord should be evident to those who see us.
Finally, the intensity of our worship should be evident in the way in which we live our live. We don’t need to put Jesus bumper stickers on our cars, or fly Jesus banners in and around our homes. But the way in which we live should make it evident to others that Jesus is our Lord and that we love, worship, and follow Him. One of the best ways by which we can do that is by the love we show for each other (John 13:34-35). The love that we show to others is a reflection of our love for the Lord.
It’s fun to go out and cheer on your favorite team, to support your favorite players on the team, and to show your love for the team. But sports teams are just men and women. Our love and worship of the Lord should outshine our love for any team, for any athlete, singer, band, or celebrity in this world. And, our love and worship of Him should be intense, a love that we give with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength (Luke 10:27).
A Worshiper's Journal 