Worship God With Body, Soul, and Spirit - Part Two

Soul Worship

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD: And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might (Deuteronomy 6:4-5).

Continuing on this topic of worship, I will now deal with the soul and how we worship God with our souls. The soul is that part of our being that is the source of deep-seated emotions and desires. It is with our souls that we feel inner pain or joy and a whole host of emotions in between. How we respond to any given situation in life is largely determined by how we feel internally, and the preconceived attitudes/biases we have developed over time. Therefore, our attitudes toward God and the Christian life is largely determined by how we feel about them. If our souls are connected to God, then we will have a positive attitude towards God. If our souls are disconnected from God, or only connected periodically, then we will have either a negative or an disinterested attitude respectively about God. True worship requires connectedness, without which, we cannot truly worship God. Without this connectedness, we would only be faking it.

The soul is also the seat of our deepest desires. It is that place of your deepest longings, yearnings, and wants. We tend to seek out that which we desire and want, and if your deepest desire is to seek to worship God, then you will do that with all earnestness. A common problem among believers is that God, while they desire to know Him, He is not one of their deepest desires. All other desires sometimes takes precedence such as money, marriage, and material possessions. God is often neglected while we pursue our worldly goals, or we may only pay lip-service to God when attending church services and participating in corporate worship, because it is the 'Christian' thing to do.

True soul worship therefore means that God is first, and last, and everything in all that we do and are. He takes first place in our lives and whatever we do is always based upon that relationship. Soul worship is essential to deepening that relationship we have with God. It establishes and maintains intimacy in our relationship with God. Let us not therefore neglect this very important part of worship.