“I didn’t get anything from the pastor’s message today.”

“Working in ministry is hard because you only give at church, you don’t get much.” 

“I just don’t get much from the worship style at that church.” 

Have you ever heard or said some of these things? I’m sure we’ve all thought them. 

While God certainly gives us abundant gifts as we worship Him, true worship is foundationally about giving, not getting. It’s giving God glory through our words, our actions... our very lives. 

My Bible reading today was Revelation 4, where we see glimpses of God’s glory, as He sits on a throne encircled by a shining rainbow; lightning sparking and thunder roaring... revealing the beauty and power of the Lord God Almighty. 

The living creatures gather around Him giving glory, honor and thanks singing in repetition, “‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.”

The seraphim cover their eyes and feet in reverence. The elders lay their crowns before the throne. 

We GIVE God all of us. Our glory, honor and thanks. Our whole lives. 

Just as in the Old Testament sacrifices of animals were offered up to God for atonement of sin, Christ’s death has paid the price for your sin and mine. Now, we have the opportunity to sacrifice before God as an act of worship. But it’s not a killing of animals, it’s a giving up of ourselves, of our very life. It’s living, by the power of the Holy Spirit, a life that is holy and pleasing to God. We offer our bodies as living sacrifices as our spiritual act of worship... living out our forever-purpose in the here and now, pouring ourselves out in thankful reciprocity.

I once thought heaven might be boring, but as I read the Bible I see glimpses of something thrilling: mankind becoming all we were created to be and do as we give of ourselves in worship. Heaven echoes in our hearts as we ponder eternity and worship God here in the land of our sojourn. Our tiniest glimpses of glory in this world will one day be all lit up in a cacophony of brilliant light, fulfillment, beauty, and joy as we worship God, not only now, but forevermore.