Is it to offer an indulgence for God, buying some sort of favor
to Him? Does our God have an insatiable desire for self-aggrandizement? Does He seek forced
adulation?
None of that.
Actually, worship is necessary for us and it makes sense. One of the translations of Romans 12:1 says that the very act of presenting our bodies to Him as living sacrifices is our reasonable service of worship.
So is it reasonable to worship God? The actual word used in Romans 12 is logikos. I have been fond of that word since my days of appreciating Mr. Spock of Star Trek fame. To give honor to one who is so much above who we are is indeed logical and rational.
Isaiah says it makes perfect logical sense to rationally and reasonable agree with God that He is worthy of all of our worship. “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord in Isaiah 1:18, “though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow, though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”
Yes God is worth and worthy of our worship, both physical (obeisance) and spiritual. But worship must be also intellectual and of our own free will, with no hidden motives or secret objectives. Worship comes from the heart and from the head. He doesn't want mindless worship.
God gave us a brain and He expects us to use it. To acknowledge Him as supreme is to God's glory and to our benefit. Otherwise we would be self-sufficient and ungrateful.
What does not make sense is to worship anything that is not eternal and not immortal. If it is perishable, all our adulation ends ultimately at the grave. Do you worship something that is temporal? That, my fictional friend Mr. Spock, would say is highly illogical.
What does not make sense is to worship anything that is not eternal and not immortal. If it is perishable, all our adulation ends ultimately at the grave. Do you worship something that is temporal? That, my fictional friend Mr. Spock, would say is highly illogical.
