Wonder About Worship: Part 5

I want to wrap up my thoughts about worship by suggesting that we can worship by celebrating the works of God’s creation. 

When my children were in elementary school I volunteered to teach a simple art class. It was called Masterpiece Art. Once a month I would come to the classroom and teach about some artist or style of art. I found it fun and enlightening. I learned much about art and about children. I was given posters of the art to show the children. On one occasion we were visiting an art gallery as a family and we encountered one of the originals of the art we had studied. My daughter got all excited because she recognized the painting. What was a two by four poster in a classroom was really a gigantic painting that took up the whole wall of the gallery. We both stood in awe as we took in the real thing.

God has painted his own masterpieces and made them available to all who will take the time to see. Often we content ourselves with reproductions until we actually encounter the real thing. No painting of a sunset can match actually watching the sun set over the horizon. No picture of the Rocky Mountains can hold a candle to encountering them yourself. No snapshot of Lake Superior can do justice to the experience of sitting on the rocky shore and listening to the waves crashing against the rocks.

There is something worse than being content with a copy of God’s handiwork. That is failing to recognize it at all. In our busy, technologically saturated world we can easily go through life blind to the wonders all around us. We are so plugged into the artificial and the made-made that we fail to see and experience the real thing. We substitute amusement parks and video games for hiking in the woods or canoeing down a river. We put on our blinders to our own detriment.

God invites us into a celebration of his creation. Psalm 19 says it this way. “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge. There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world.”

One of the simplest and most profound acts of worship we can offer to God is to stand in awe of his handiwork and give Him praise. When we take the time to encounter God’s masterpieces a spark of worship is kindled in our hearts. In the presence of such beauty and creativity we long to pour forth praise. We want to applaud the artist, celebrate the author, and honor the Creator who so masterfully put it all together.

There is an important place in our lives for corporate times of worship. God designed us to take time regularly to gather in His presence to honor Him. But we cannot limit our worship to one hour on Sunday morning. That should only be the beginning of a week-long celebration of our Savior and King. Let us daily offer to God a sacrifice of praise through our work and our creativity and our wonder at the world He as created for us to enjoy.