Astab is an expression of worship where you bring an offering, for example a food/drink offering, or incense offering. Atsab helps us see that worshipping God includes giving but giving is only part of our worship. And so the giving of the tithes and offerings are part of our worship. But worshipping God does not means just to give Him something.

Next, let’s look at worship translated from the Hebrew word Abad. Abad has the meaning “to serve”. From Abad we can understand that worshipping God includes serving. But again, you must not think that worshipping God just means doing something for him. Service is good but service alone is not the kind of worship that God wants.

Eusebeo: At best this means reverential fear, at worse it is plain fear or “kiasuism”. The negative side of eusebeo comes largely from beign superstitious or simply following traditions without examining if there is a true or genuine basis for the worship. Even today in our modern times with all our scientific advancements, technology, skyscrapers, right there by some corner, in some construction work site, under some tree, there is a little altar that some people build just in case the spirits of the place don’t like to be disturbed. It is worship purely based on fear, and wanting to appease the spirits. This is not the kind of worship that God wants.

There is another Greek word for worship, Therapeuo. From therapeuo you get the word “therapy”. It means healing, wholeness. It is worshipping God because of its therapeutic value. It’s almost the opposite of eusebeo where you worship out of fear. It is good to come and worship with a sense of expectancy, to receive from God. But by now you will understand that worshipping God is more than just coming to get something from God.

There is another Greek word, Threskeia which is translated into worship. Threskeia means to be religious or ritualistic. It is an expression of worship that focuses more on what you can eat and drink and the special religious days. How you should dress, how the sanctuary should be laid out, what you should say, how you should sing or pray, making some days (like Good Friday, Christmas) more important than others.

Emphasizing on the “right thing” to do is not wrong per se. But the danger is when passing on our faith to new believers or the next generation and all that you model for them is threskeia. What will happen if all they see is ritualistic, without significance? If you are just going through the motions without engaging your heart and mind in worship, what will they catch?

What God desires from Worship?
Look at John 4. Jesus was speaking to the woman at the well. She was a Jewess living in Samaria, and the Jews in Jerusalem looked down at the Samaritans because they believed the Samaritans were ignorant of how to properly worship God.

Jesus said to the woman, “believe me, the hour is coming when you will neither on this mountain, nor in Jerusalem, worship the Father. You worship what you do not know… But the hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for the Father is seeking such to worship Him.” John 4:21-:24

Now let us point out to you three things that you can pick up from this passage about true worship.

Firstly, “Know who you are worshipping”.

Worship has got to be to God the Father; God our creator, God the lover of our soul.

And he desires that you worship in truth, for who he is, as he has revealed himself to us, primarily in Bible, rather than who we would like him to be or someone else that we have made him out to be.

What do we mean? Out of ignorance or selective vision people can pick and choose what to believe the Bible says about God.

For example, some people mistakenly put constraints on God and say that he no longer performs miracles today.

Some people completely ignore the person of the Holy Spirit.

Some people see the grace of God and put “blinders” on, when it comes to his righteousness. Again some people see the grace but ignore the commands to obey.

True worship is of God integrally (wholly) as he has revealed himself to us!

The second point is that, “Worship will flow from the inside out.”

“In spirit” means flowing out from your heart; expressed with all your strength, and engaging your entire soul.

The 3rd point is that the worship God seeks comes from a relationship of trust and intimacy. Built up between you and God, and which comes with your experiencing the reality and goodness of God over time, time and again.

Worshipping God in spirit and in truth comes from experiences that have engaged both your emotion and intellect.

Fullness of worship
The two words for worshipping God that carries the fullness of God’s expectations are Shachah (in Hebrew) and Proskuneo (in Greek). And both of them carry the meaning of bowing down.

Shachah was modeled by Abraham.

Look at Genesis 22. The verses described the time when God asked Abraham to make a sacrifice to him of his son, Isaac. And after the preparation with the fire and finding the right place, Abraham set off to worship (shachah).

Now God had asked Abraham for his son, but God did no more than that.

The rest was all up to Abraham. And we see that Abraham took the son himself; Abraham bound the son himself; Abraham sought to sacrifice the son himself. God never did it for him. Of his own free will, Abraham made the choices to do whatever was required to please God.

Worship as modeled by Abraham counted the cost.

It was based on having an intimate relationship with God – experiencing the goodness and reality of God over time, time and again.

It is confidence that God will always give you back more than what you can possibly offer to him.

And with all this on the inside, true worship will flow: A willingness to bow down to God, to do whatever it takes to please God.

Finally, we find Proskuneo in Matthew chapter 2. This Greek word translated as worship in English has the meaning “bow to kiss”.

Look at the passage. It has been acted out in countless Christmas plays. It is about the kings (magi) that were given a sign to follow, a star in the sky. And they traveled far to find God who had come to earth in the flesh. To worship him; and they brought gifts.

They were kings, leaders and men of substance yet when they found God he was just a baby in his mother’s arms.

Do you think that it was easy for them to worship when they saw a tiny child in a dirty dinky stable, not in a royal court? Yet they humbled themselves, fell down, bowed and kissed at the feet of the baby.

A lesson here for us is that for many people it is easier to worship someone grand and regal and with all the trappings of power. But worshipping God requires that you look beyond the form, beyond the humble places, and believe in the unseen.

Yaaay! God can even show up at a small dinky church like New Life Vineyard.

You must see that it is never about whether you are good enough or big enough so that you qualify for God to show up or to worship him

Be it when you cry to him in your desperate moments, worship on your own or in our worship service. There is nothing external that you can ever do to qualify or to deserve him!

Look at Mathew 8 when a Roman centurion, a man of considerable power came to Jesus. This powerful man realized that there is nothing external or of this world that he could do for Jesus or give to him to deserve God showing up.

But God will always honor faith. As you know Jesus highly commended the centurion for his faith; for his solid knowledge of God!

And you should know that the heart of the centurion was bowing down to Jesus. He was a ruler, a Roman who had power and authority over the Jews, who were conquered people. Yet the man said to Jesus, “I do not deserve to have you come to my house.” He considered himself unworthy when he came before Jesus. This was a posture and worship acceptable and pleasing to God.

In Isaiah 66:1-2 God speaks directly, and it is to comfort the poor and broken hearted.

Thus says the LORD: “Heaven is My throne, And earth is My footstool. Where is the house that you will build Me? And where is the place of My rest? For all those things My hand has made, And all those things exist,” Says the LORD. “But on this one will I look: On him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at My word.

Here is a great lesson for us. God looks especially upon the poor and broken hearted. And God seeks nothing from you because everything that exists he has made. It is only the worship that comes from a humble spirit and from your innermost being that Our Almighty God seeks.