Worship--Part 3

In Worship--Part I I wrote about the first time a form of the word "worship" appears in the Bible. (Genesis 22:5 And Abraham said to his young men, "Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.")

Although the word worship isn't mentioned specifically, certainly God lays a foundation for worship back in Genesis 2 at the end of the Creation account. And on the seventh day God ended His work which He had made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh day and sanctified it...

In contrast to the previous six days of creation, there is no mention of 'evening and morning.' Some scholars speculate that this is because the Sabbath ordinance is to be continued, and that man is supposed to participate in it.

So, what did God do on the seventh day? He ended His work, He rested from His work, He blessed the day, and He sanctified (made holy, set apart) the day. We, too, must set aside the Sabbath as a holy day.

If an earthly father rests from his work, after six days of difficult labor, what do his young children do? They spend time with him, they marvel in his presence, they have more leisurely meals, they talk, the father helps his children do things, he instructs them, they enjoy one another's company. Doesn't this look a little like the very things that we should be doing with our heavenly Father on the Sabbath? If we spend our earthly dad's one day off watching TV, talking to friends, or going to the mall, it would be a sad day indeed. Yet, if we go to church and the highlights are watching the drama team perform, the praise band perform, the pastor tell funny stories, visiting with our friends, having put together a pretty outfit,... Well, you get the picture.