What does it really mean to you?

Luke 2:36-38

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty- four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Most of us have compartments in our lives; we have a compartment for work, for our hobbies, for our family, for our social life, for our personal time and even for our worship. We do this because we want to keep things neat and orderly. We try not to mix them as much as possible so for many of us, our Christianity and related activities do not mix with other aspects of our life. Most of us have compartments in our lives; we have a compartment for work, for our hobbies, for our family, for our social life, for our personal time and even for our worship. We do this because we want to keep things neat and orderly. We try not to mix them as much as possible so for many of us, our Christianity and related activities do not mix with other aspects of our life. For us, worship or other church related activities are done on Sundays or maybe an extra evening in the week. There are those more disciplined among us that do certain things daily like prayer and devotion/quiet time to satisfy our conscience by being compliant to certain “requirements”. By doing this, we completely miss the point of worship.

The prophet Anna was married only for 7 years before she became a widow. So based on the prevalent Jewish customs of her time, she must be either in her late teens or early 20’s when she became a widow. She was still quite young and could easily remarry but instead she chooses to devote all her time worshipping, praying and fasting (regularly) in the temple.  It wasn’t specified how often she fasted but it could very well be a daily activity for her because it was written that “She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.” This was far more than the requirements of the Pharisees, the religious leaders of their time, who fasted 2x a week. Anna was so in tune with God that she immediately recognized the Promised One for who He really is. She gave thanks to God and spoke to all who were there about the Christ.

How’s our walk with the Lord? How much time do we really spend with the Lord? Do we recognize His voice when He speaks to us? (John 10:7 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.) Do we even listen? Do we even care?

When we look at worship and our walk with God as merely an activity, we lose out on a lot of things. We lose out on the sense of intimacy we get from spending a lot of time with someone.  We often think that when we worship each Sunday at church or pray 3x a day or fast once a year then we must be doing pretty well spiritually. Have we ever stop to think for all the worshipping, praying and fasting that we do, how has it affected/influenced our lives if at all? The Bible tells us that when we accepted Christ as our Savior, we become a new being. ( 2 Cor. 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come. The old has gone, the new is here!), we no longer live just to satisfy our own needs and desires. We should start living for Christ. Worship should become our lifestyle. It should be part of everything we do and must come as naturally as breathing. Worship is live. If we can’t worship God in our life 24/7, 365 days a year then how are we going to survive being in heaven? Because that all we will be doing when we are there face to face with the Lord.  It doesn’t mean that we drop down on our knees and pray all the time or sing praise song non-stop. Worship as a way of life simply means that in all we do, in all we think, in all the things we say and the way we relate with others, we let Christ-likeness be the prevailing guiding principle. We no longer do things for our own but all for God’s glory.  You can choose to live a life of worship or you can choose not to. The choice is yours. What do you choose?

Luke 2:36-37

There was also a prophet, Anna, the daughter of Penuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, and then was a widow until she was eighty- four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying.