Micah 6:8 CJB “Human being, you have already been told what is good, what Adonai demands of you — no more than to act justly, love grace and walk in purity with your God.”
When we think of worship, music, lights, fast songs, slow songs, clapping, raising hands, and other things may come to mind – but when you hear the word worship, does Micah 6:8 come to mind? Singing is part of our worship of God, and so is giving and even Bible study. Worship is our lifestyle and our obedience to the Word of God.
If you’ve ever read the book of Ecclesiastes, Solomon may seem jaded to you. The book is filled with the notion that everything is vanity or meaningless, and after reading through several negative chapters, we come to the end, and Solomon says, Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about. 14 For God will bring to judgment everything we do, including every secret, whether good or bad. [Here is the final conclusion, now that you have heard everything: fear God, and keep his mitzvot; this is what being human is all about.](Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 CJB)*.
Yeshua said, “Let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16 CJB). There is a teaching and concept in Judaism called tikkun olam, repairing a broken world. Improving the world is the mission of each of us; we do it by loving our neighbor. The two greatest commandments are loving God and loving our neighbor, and they are joint commandments. We cannot say we love God if we are unwilling to help someone in need.
Yeshua even said that if we are coming to God to give an offering and remember our brother has something against us, we must make things right with our brother before we give to the Lord. Our worship of God can be tainted if we are not right with others.1
As we approach times of worship and as we have the ability to meet the needs of others, let us see those things connected to each other. When I help someone, it is also an act of worship. My prayer is that we will see our understanding of worship broadened and deepened to encompass the whole of our lives, that good works and worship, prayer, and Bible reading are not seen as separate tasks but are all linked together in our relationship with God, that we will see the fullness of God’s call to know Him and be a light to our world.
*A characteristic of the Jewish approach to life is to accentuate the positive. There are four books in the Tanakh with a negative-sounding last verse, so the next to last verse is repeated.
- Matthew 5:23-24
Casey D. Bell 
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