Move how you want to

O my soul, bless God. From head to toe, I’ll bless his holy name! O my soul, bless God, don’t forget a single blessing! He forgives your sins—every one. He heals your diseases—every one. He redeems you from hell—saves your life! He crowns you with love and mercy—a paradise crown. He wraps you in goodness—beauty eternal. He renews your youth—you’re always young in his presence. (Psalm 103:1-5)

From head to toe - bless God. Why does God begin with our head and end with our toes? All worship begins in the mind - we have to center our thoughts, to pay attention, really focus on something other than ourselves. If we are to worship as God desires, we begin by allowing God to enter into the space of our mind - not 'taking control' of our thoughts, but becoming the central portion of each thought. If we begin to think about the activities of our day, we begin to ask the question, "How will I make you the central part of each activity I will undertake today, Lord?" If we consider the interactions within relationships we will participate in today, we begin to ask the question, "How can I bring you into this relationship today, Christ, so it will grow stronger, be free of selfish conflict, and bring a fulfillment of what you intend through us?" You see, the mind has so much to do with how we begin to worship God in our day.

Eyes, Ears, and Mouth - bless God. It is only natural that God would move to the three things that give us so much problem in life. The eyes take in things all the time, influencing our thoughts and forming opinions that may or may not be reality and worthy of our attention. We need God to put 'spiritual blinders' on our eyes - to help us see what needs to be seen and avoid the stuff that will only serve to defile us. Ears hear things, but they also avoid hearing other things. This is how we coined the phrase 'selective hearing', after all! God needs to govern our hearing, as well - those things we hear that are worthy of repeating, of allowing to affect our hearts and minds, these are the things we need God to emphasize and the other stuff we need him to help us filter out. Our mouths speak words of worship, but as scripture also points out, we deliver curses with that same mouth! God puts his word in our mouths, not just so we will have 'nice words' to speak out, but so that they may be spoken 'in season' - at times when those words become a blessing in the lives of others.

Hands and Heart - bless God. Stop for a moment to understand the actions of your hands. Did you ever stop to consider your hands? They don't take action alone - they take action because they are 'innervated' to take action by our minds. If worship begins in our minds, begins to affect what we behold with our eyes, and allow to be spoken into our hearts, our hands will begin to reveal the actions that reflect the grace and love of God. Worship begins in the mind, but it begins to affect the heart - the heart affects what we choose to do with our hands. Hands are tools of action - they are put to use and as a result we bring forth words from the keyboard, create a work of art in our workshop, or produce a beautiful apron to protect the one who fills their kitchen with family and friends. Hands aren't worth much until they are innervated into movement - to hold, to release, and to hold again!

Feet - bless God. We began at the head and we end with the feet. As the entire body begins to focus upon the grace and love of Christ, the feet are set into action, just like the hands were. The feet are our means of movement - they take us from one spot to another. Isn't it rewarding to know our feet can be directed to move in worship toward the King of Kings and Lord of Lords? Our feet move as directed by our minds and our hearts. You see, focus the mind correctly and the heart will follow. Where our heart is directed, our hands and feet will follow closely. Ever see someone so caught up in worship that they actually begin to dance a little before God? I don't dance well, but in worship, I know God doesn't care if my feet are moving in 'rhythm' or not! He just wants our feet to follow HIS rhythm - the rhythm set out by the beat of his heart in your life and mine. There is a song that says, "Come and move as you want to...do what only you can do...come and make the old brand new...do only what you can do..." That is God moving, my dear friends. He had touched mind, ears, eyes, mouth, heart, hands, and now our feet. He is moving and we are moving with him! Just sayin!