now is the time to worship

I can still remember the moment when I first heard the song, “Come, now is the time to worship.” I was in my first church, in Horsham, and some of the young people in the church were leading the service. They had heard the song and got hold of a CD, which they played at the start of the service.

I found it moving. It was a gentle invitation to God to meet with him. It was a beautiful moment for me at the start of a service.

I am sitting in my study at home, writing a sermon for Sunday, and I have some Christian songs playing in the background. “Come, now is the time to worship” has just come on. I have often wondered about whether we should change the lyrics to: “Come, now is a time to worship” as we are called not only to worship God when we are together with other believers with the intent to praise God.

But listening to “Come now is the time to worship” in the middle of the week reminds me of that same truth from another perspective. Now is the time to worship. Not tomorrow. Not Sunday.

NOW!

My awareness of God can be diminished by other things that crowd in on me – demands on my time and attention. My awareness of God can be tainted by other things and people that threaten to replace him as most important in my life. My relationship with God is undermined when I give in to selfishness and make myself the object of my worship and ambition.

Now is the time to worship.

Stop what you are doing. Give him the time. Give him your attention. Give him your busyness and your business. Give him your problems. Give him your stress. Give him your hurt. He is big enough to hold all of that for you.

Now is the time to worship. Don’t put it off. Don’t put him off.

And worship in song, in prayer, in poetry and prose. Worship by being the best ‘you’ you can be. Worship him by using the talents and personality he has given you to be a free sample of Jesus to those around you. Worship him by the way you are with other people. Worship by going for a walk in God’s creation. Worship by marvelling at his handiwork in fine detail or universal splendour. Worship by blessing others in his name.

This may lead you along a path that makes you aware of your own failings in the light of God’s majesty and faithfulness. Hold that for a moment. Just concentrate on him.

Now is the time to worship.

Be blessed, be a blessing.

And today, go and find a joke for yourself that will bless someone else…