Worship (Day 26): Eat and Drink

If you're reading my 31-day series on Worship for the first time, consider clicking over here to my Day 1 post to see the introduction and to find the rest of the posts in the series!

 I've said it before, and I'll say it again-- sometimes we make worship so darn complicated. We try to conjure up an emotional, memorable experience that will allow us to know that yes, we are all-out worshiping God in this moment. And He loves those moments. But if I spend all my time trying to create these moments, what of everyday life? Who has time for it?

"So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." -1 Cor. 10:31

Since I am so linguistically-oriented (I like my songs with deep lyrics, my journals with heartfelt words, my conversations with meaning), I always thought my worship had to be the same. Deep. Concentrated. Lengthy. But if Paul says God's glorification can come from eating and drinking, what am I missing?

John Piper says that "we are to eat and drink in a way that expresses the infinite worth of God." Our acts of worship do not simply encompass the deep, spiritual moments of realization and surrender-- they also include the small surrenders that come in the dishwashing, bathing, breakfast-ing, and living. 

Do you see that pile of dishes? Surrender your heart, acknowledge that God is infinitely worthy, and wash and worship. Do you see that whining child of yours? Surrender your heart and love and discipline as you worship. Do you see the sweet old woman struggling to get a cart at the store? Redirect your steps, help her out, understanding that God is infinitely worthy of your time... and worship.

Worship is not just found in the deep, spiritual moments-- because in reality, those moments are a lot about us and our feelings. True, solid worship is hidden among the day-to-day steps, breaths, and decisions, found in the prepared dinner and the words that you speak. It's worship because we are not at the center:

"What a sigh of relief to know, to really know that I am not the center of the universe. To know that every breath, decision, meal, step, and turn is worship if I am doing it with knowledge that He holds all things together. When I forget that truth, when I step back into the center spoke of the wheel? That is when my breathing gets shallow, my head starts to ache, my hands tremble ever so slightly. We are not created to be the center." -Emily Freeman

Worship as you eat or drink or whatever you do that you were already going to do anyway. He is created to be at the center, so worship.