John Piper has famously and repeatedly said, “Books don’t change people, paragraphs do — sometimes sentences.” This new blog series “Life-Changing Sentences” takes that to heart and shares powerful sentences from Christian writers on a variety of topics.
“The heart of genuine worship is the working out in every aspect of our lives the confession ‘Jesus is Lord.'”
—D.A. Carson1
When I first heard this quote, it echoed in my mind for the next couple of weeks. How can I submit to Christ’s Lordship in every aspect of my life? In every thought, every second of every day?
The gospel starts with the Lordship of God—that’s why our sin against Him is so bad. He is the Creator and Ruler of all, meaning we owe Him our utmost allegiance and complete reverence. Our sin means at best, God gets a fraction of the worship He deserves from us. Genuine worship counters the destruction of sin and redirects glory and worship back to the One who truly deserves it.
This is why I teach that repentance is worship. When we turn from our sin, that turnnecessitates a turn to the living God; if it does not, it is not truly turning from our sin, just turning from one type of sin to another.
This quote challenges me greatly to make every aspect of my life count for the glory of Christ; to not let my body crawl off of the altar, but to present my body “as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God,” which is my spiritual worship (Romans 12:1). He alone deserves total allegiance, and as we grow as worshippers who behold His glory, we grow more in line with the reason He created us (Ephesians 1:6) and desire to glorify Him more.
Lord, teach me to be a genuine worshipper, worshipping in Spirit and in truth. May ‘Jesus is Lord’ be the banner I joyfully submit to and proclaim with my life. Show me sins to put off, righteousness to put on, and how I can grow in submission to You. In the mighty Name of Jesus, Our Lord, AMEN.
1 This quote comes from a sermon on Ezekiel.
