Worshiping God in our actions is well known idea amongst Christians. Though, just because it’s a common idea doesn’t mean it’s well understood.
A primary verse for worshiping God in action is Colossians 3:17 where Paul writes:
"Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father."
But the question is HOW do we do all things “in the name of the Lord Jesus”?
The answer is straightforward. As described in Hebrews 11:6, it’s "impossible to please God without faith" (Hebrews 11:6a). All faith responds in action, whether it’s song, prayer, etc - yet what we’re looking at now is, what does it look like in the normal actions of life?
Hebrews 11 has many great examples of “heroes of faith” such as Abel, Abraham, Moses, and others. The common thread is that they acted in faith towards who God is and what He told them to do.
What does this mean for us?
I trust that God has spoken to you. In fact, I know He has. If you have sought to hear from God, He promises that He will speak to you. I don’t guarantee that He will open the heavens and speak audibly to you, I don’t even assume that you have “felt” God saying something specific to you. However, God’s Word has many things to say about how God desires us to live. It tells us how He desires us to love others, to encourage others, to flee sin, to repent when we sin, etc. There are many things God has asked us to do, and when we act on these things in faith, we are worshiping God in our actions.
Faith in action
Look at it this way, you can wake up and pray out of duty, or even a good habit, OR you can choose to pray because you have faith that what God has said about prayer is true. That because of your faith in Jesus, God desires to hear from you and desires to be a part of your every moment.
We can give to the church we attend or help out the homeless person on the street, but Hebrews 11 tells us that all of these things are not worshipful to God unless they’re done through the eyes of faith. Faith that believes that God has called us to do something that will have impact because He is working through us.
Now, you can be sure that God will be working through you no matter what. We see God using people throughout the Bible who had no intention of seeking God, or obeying Him. However, although your actions are used by God regardlessly, it has to be your choice to have your actions be based in faith towards God, and therefore, done in worship to Him.
Worship is an internal decision with outward consequences. So the question remains yours to answer: why do you do what you do? Is it because God has told you to and you desire to please Him, or is it because it’s “how you were raised” or “it’s just the right thing to do”? The answer to this question will determine how much of your life is wasted effort and how much is truly worship to God.
It’s a lifetime process, but I hope we can all answer these questions more and more with:
"I do ___________ because of what God has done for me, and what He promises to continue to do."
