Worship

In Colossians 3:17, we are told, "And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

The question: what does it mean to do everything in the name of Jesus. Josh picked my up from a babysitting job tonight, and as we drove back, I wondered:

Does "worship" always have to be a conscious, intellectual process? Or can I still be worshiping God when I am caught up in the bliss of making music? If my heart were first captive to Jesus, if my identity were to lie in him, if my life ambitions were grounded in him... and I got caught up in bliss... without an intentional, mental focus on Jesus... could it still be worship?

It would seem that it must be possible... because to both be thinking about Jesus and doing math equations in your head at the same time is impossible. There is no way to add two plus two but at the same moment be thinking about Jesus. It is possible to have thoughts of him mixed in between questions... but is that what worship is supposed to look like? Not to be irreverent, but let's think about this: Two plus two is four. Wow, it's awesome that God made the world so logical. Four plus four is eight. Man, I am so thankful that God is orderly.... That just seems impractical and ridiculous.

So. What is it? Where is the thing that turns a normal act into worship? Is it the motives? If I am learning math to learn how to better serve Jesus, it stands to reason that it would be worship. But it still leaves the question, is simply having Jesus-focused overarching motives doing everything in the name of Jesus? It is clearly not possible to have our sights 100% on Jesus in the middle of everything.

Perhaps you think I am over thinking.

Think again.

Example: Josh and I took my friend Cathy's two little boys bowling. I realized, an hour into bowling, that I had not once thought about Jesus in that hour. I had been focused on getting the boys to enjoy themselves and enjoy our company. While that is important... not thinking about Jesus once in a whole hour is pretty sad, no matter what my motives are. Ultimately, I should not want to just "make them happy," but I should want to draw them closer to Jesus.

Well, bedtime. The wheels keep turning. Maybe the answers will all come to me in a dream :P