It is winter outside. Outside my window it is all bare. Inside the window of my soul, there is a garden. A luxurious garden found in Romans 12. It all beings with God’s mercy. In full view of God’s mercy, we are to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. Then it notes: “this is your spiritual act of worship.”

I love church on Sunday. I love the fellowship, the preaching of the Word, and I love the song service, singing and praising God with all my heart, soul, and body. It is unfortunate that we often call that part of the service the “worship service.” It is a wonderful time to sing and praise, but it leaves too many people with the impression that the short time spent on Sunday morning singing songs to God is all there is to worship. Worship is a part of that, truly must be for it to have any relevance at all, but worship is so much more than just singing to God on Sundays.

Romans 12 true worship: “Therefore, I urge you brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God – this is your spiritual act of worship.”  THIS is your spiritual act of worship. What is? This is — the offering of your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God.

Worship is not lived solely in church; worship is lived in the trenches of life. It is not just what we do IN church; it’s how we live OUTSIDE of church. Worship is honoring God with every aspect, in every part of our lives.

We talk about the spiritual and the secular, separating life into sections. For the Christian, every part of life is a spiritual honoring of God. How we perform in school, how we do our jobs, how we relate to people in the grocery store is all part of our spiritual act of worship.