"Oh, my heart sings."

"From the north, to the south. From the east to the west, let everything that has breath praise."

What is praise?

Praise... Worship... It's been on my heart so much lately. Actually, it never leaves my heart. And messages from church over the past week and the introduction of this song into our youth ministry has triggered deep thought about it. I can't help but analyse and try to decipher meaning, and find the meaning that is applicable for me. I'm an analytical person, which in someways entirely contradicts my personality, but it's something that is so important to me.

This is how I see it:

God created man, he created the seas and the land, he created the animals, the plants, from the smallest thing to the largest... You get the point, he created it all. He gave me breath, and he ordained my life from the get go and from the minute I was born he had hope that I would follow the plan he has for me. Time after time, I've said "no." "No, not now God." "Why me?" "I can't." "That's not something I feel comfortable with." And last week, it hit me. God, the Father, sent His son. As in, His child. His precious, precious child with whom He is well pleased, to earth. He walked without a single blemish. And then he died, the death of a sinner. A death of shame, and he carried everything that I was to do wrong, and God let it happen. He knew full well every time I would sin, He knew I'd deny Him, He knew I'd refuse His call, and He knew I'd come back to it. He did it with the knowledge that one day I'd be here living for Him. But not only did He do it knowing that about me, He did it with the knowledge of everyone and what they would do with their lives.

So where does worship come in? It comes in here... I am one human amongst 7 billion in this world we live in, and I have the privilege of sitting here in my warm bedroom on my laptop, typing to strangers. God chose me to live, and he chose me to do specific things in life. I could say no to the things he set on my heart, very easily so I could turn it all away. But I had this realisation; God chose me. Who am I to say no to perfect love? Who am I to think that I'm so clever I can do life on my own? Who am I to think that I'm too good for grace? So why would I not worship? Not just on a Sunday morning when I'm standing on the platform as part of the worship team, but every day of my life. When I go to work. When I come home from work. When I hang out with my friends. When I arrive at church. When I leave church. When I'm at parties. When I'm on my own in my bedroom.

So again I find myself asking, so what are you getting at Tash?! I'm getting at this, worship is the act of giving back to God the glory he sent down to earth. Worship is returning to Him what is rightfully His, whether it be my finance, the talents/gifts He's given me, my time, my heart, anything and everything. It's all worship, every single bit of it. So this is how I'm trying to live, with the mindset that everything I do is worship. I walk in to work with my head held high, knowing that I'm about to encounter people who don't know what I know about hope and love, and some people who do. I walk into church knowing I get to celebrate my faith with like-minded people. I go into my studies knowing that good grades glorify God. Everything I do, I do to the best of my ability so that I can worship Him every single day. Standing on a platform with a microphone isn't the most important way I worship. It's an honour, and a privilege, but God has called me to more than just that. And I'm determined to live like that.

Everything that has breath, Praise the Lord. (Psalm 148)