Worship in the Greek

When we come together to worship our Lord, we ought to be approaching Him with a desire to humbly bless Him. It’s an opportunity and privilege He’s given each of His children. In response to the Holy Spirit moving upon our hearts, we can bless our Lord and that is what we seek to do when we gather for worship. The word “worship” in the New Testament is most often the translation of the Greek word, proskuneo. This word occurs in the New Testament sixty times. Considering this, we ought to come to the conclusion that it must be a pretty significant word. And it is! Proskuneo can have a variety of similar meanings. Pros means “towards”, while kuneo means, “to kiss”. And so it’s appropriate that the word is translated “worship” because isn’t that what we do when we worship? We worship God, expressing our love for Jesus (Who is God) and our gratitude for His continued kindness and mercy upon our lives. This sort of adoration used to really concern me. As a kid I used to watch my grandma and aunts, along with my mother, greet each other with a kiss whenever we got together as a family. I never understood it, but now I think I’ve got it. They had (and still have) an appropriate affection for one another. So they often express that with a kiss or an embrace. Not because they worship each other but because they truly love the others. We do that too as we come into God’s presence and greet Jesus with our worship. He’s already placed in our hearts the desire to bless and worship Him by His Spirit, so we simply respond to His leading and give Him our adoration. He’s worthy of our affection and He’s worthy of our worship, so let’s continue to give Him our lives as offerings of devotion to His Majesty and we’ll be blessed while at the same time being transformed by His Spirit. God Bless as you seek to worship Him with all your heart! —Pastor Graham