His Worship, His Way

“No graven images”- this was God’s command to His people. What a stark difference in the tents of Israel from the dwellings of Egypt. The Egyptians had images of their gods everywhere. Carved on dishes, engraved into walls, woven into tapestries. Pagan culture showed off devotion materially. The greater the allegiance, the more idols in the house. Or so it would seem.

God seemed to point back at the materialistic “worship” of Egypt and say, “I don’t want that.” Because Almighty God cannot be reduced down to a piece of carved wood or molten gold? Absolutely. But also because you cannot place something up on a shelf and call it worship. What you put on display is not necessarily what you’re devoted to. Worship is not giving something a place of prominence in your home but giving something a place of prominence in your heart. The worship of idols was a performance. It was an elevation of status masqueraded as devotion.

In the tents of Israel? No shrines, no engravings, no carved statues. God would not be satisfied with a candle being lit or rote words being rattled off. Worship was not a decoration. It was a lifestyle.

You could not glance around an Israelite tent and judge how committed someone was to Jehovah. You’d have to look at their lives for that.

You could walk into the home of an Egyptian and be impressed by their devotion to their imposter deity.

But for the children of God…

You’d have to look through how they prioritized their day, and what received the most thought and attention.

You would need to listen in on their conversations and see into the heart behind them.

You’d have to see how willingly they aligned their lives to God’s commands.

Worship had to be lived out.

The life was the testimony. The behavior was the proclamation.

Worship is about what you prioritize as much as it’s about what you advertise.

Our worship, and therefore our lives, are all about Him. This is the second step to living free- His worship, His way.