What I Learned About Worship From Adam and Eve
“What did worship look like for Adam and Eve in the garden?”
I was recently asked this question and it led to weeks of reflection and study.
Worship is such a common religious word it’s easy to assume we understand what it means and are doing it the way God wants.
It’s actually hard to get worship right.
This has always been true. Consider the story of Cain and Abel. What started as an attempt to worship God led to death and despair for the brothers.
Still, worship is important to God and to us. God deserves and demands worship. And humans were designed to be worshippers. We can’t help ourselves. We all end up worshiping something in life.
So what does it mean to worship God? Here’s a simple definition:
We worship God when we live with him at the center of our attention, our affections, and our actions.
That’s what worship looked like for Adam and Eve in the garden.
There’s a natural progression in worship. When we give God our attention it shifts our affections. Our hearts reflect the things we expose them to. When we fix our attention on God, our affections begin to change and our values start to align with his.
But true worship goes beyond our attention and affections and leads to action. When this happens we become true worshippers, the kind of people God is looking for.1
Just as the earth was made to orbit, we who are made of earth are designed to worship. We all revolve around something in life.
What holds your attention? What draws your affections? What guides your actions?
What are you worshiping?
“True worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way.” (John 4.23)