Think about things you do once a week.  Perhaps you go to the grocery store, do your laundry, clean the bathroom, take out the trash, or mow the lawn.  These are just ordinary routine things.  What about things you do every day? Things like taking a shower, brushing your teeth, going to work, making the bed, and eating come to mind.  These activities are also simply routine. We may not even think about them sometimes, but they get done.  They are just part of life.

Our Godly worship should be no different.  It should be routine. By "worship" I mean worship in the wide sense, any way in which we are hearing from God through His Word or approaching God with our prayer, thanks, and praise. Going to church every week should be as routine as going to the grocery store or doing the laundry.  Reading or listening to your Bible, having a devotion, and praying should be as routine as eating or brushing your teeth.  Taking time to be with God in prayer and reading His word are just part of the Christian life. They should be ordinary for us.

Perhaps the title of this article is a bit provocative. Worship isn't "special" in the sense that it isn't reserved for "special" days.  Of course, certain church festivals may have special ceremonies or music on Sunday morning, but worship is to be an everyday/every week part of the Christian's life. Though worship should not be unusual for us, it is "holy." Which means it is set apart; it looks different than all the other routine things we do during the week. It is sacred time, dedicated to the things of God, time to let God speak to and feed our bodies and souls, time to return to Him in repentance and faith, and to thank Him for His goodness.

We all know how difficult it can be to start a new habit and likewise how difficult it can be to break an old habit.  If you've ever tried to get a child to change some habit one way or the other, you know the challenge.  It is the same with our worship. It can be hard to start a habit like reading the Bible every day or prioritizing weekly worship. But it’s worth it, and when it becomes routine it just becomes a part of normal life. And what a blessing it is for worship to be ordinary!

​During the wilderness temptations, the devil said to Jesus as they looked out upon the nations of the earth, "All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me" (Matt 4:9). Now, that temptation seems ridiculous, right?  Why would Jesus worship Satan?  Explicit worshippers of Satan notwithstanding, who would ever think it's a good idea to worship the devil?

But the situation isn't that simple. Moses writes, "[The nations] stirred [Israel] to jealousy with strange gods; with abominations they provoked him to anger. They sacrificed to demons that were no gods, to gods they had never known, to new gods that had come recently, whom your fathers had never dreaded" (Deut. 32:16-17). This passage associates pagan gods with demons and warns God’s people not to be involved with idolatry. To worship false gods is to worship the devil and his demons. Paul takes up this idea in 1st Corinthians when discussing the sacrifices the pagans of his day made to false gods. "I imply what pagans sacrifice they offer to demons and not to God. I do not want you to be participants with demons" (1 Cor. 10:20).

Worship of Satan and demons can be quite subtle. Any worship directed toward something other than the true God is akin to worshipping the devil.  When we take heed to voices in this world that run counter to what God's Word says, we are in danger of a sort of false worship, a worship of demons.

One way to think about this is to consider Luther's explanation to the first commandment.  He says, "We should fear, love, and trust in God above all things." Satan would rather you fear, love, and trust in anything other than God. Do you fear illness, your death, the death of a loved one, loneliness, persecution, or hard times more than God?  Do you love your family, pleasure, free time, money, or safety more than God?  Do you trust your politicians, doctor, financial planner, internet "wisdom", or yourself more than God?  Satan wants you put any or all of these above God, and in so doing deny the true God.  We all fall into such traps and succumb to such temptations. But unlike Satan's attitude toward us, we have a God who is loving, compassionate, and forgiving.  We have Jesus who did not worship the devil, but followed only the will of His Father. And Jesus forgives our false allegiances and false worship to all who turn to Him in repentance.  Thanks be to God.