"take your son, your only son- yes Issac, whom you love so much- and go to the land of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains, which I will point out to you...
'Stay there with the donkey', Abraham told the young men. 'the boy and I will travel a little farther. We will worship there, and then we will come right back.'"
This first use of the word worship in the bible is key. Moses, the supposed author of Genesis, saw this as an opportunity to include the word worship here to make a point. And with more than 250 appearances throughout the bible, this one appearance would have been enough to define to us what worship really is. It is described as simply giving or offering God the biggest part of your life.
Ask yourself, what is the biggest part of your life.
For some people this "biggest part" of their life might be a burden. A sickness, a lost job, a lonely heart. This doesn't make them any less qualified to worship, it just means what they lay down as a sacrifice looks different then someone's sacrifice of great success.
If your giving up your burden- do so with hope. Understand that there are highs and lows in life and that they are not the realities of heaven which pertain to us. God is a huge God in the sense that He can take care of all his people. Jesus says in Matthew 11:28, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."
Other people are currently in a high point in this roller coaster of life and have plenty to offer God, yet many times this can be harder to do. We can get in this comfort zone and look around and say, "I've got the house, I've got the car, I've got the job, I've got the friends, etc..." and actually forget God got us there in the first place.
If your giving God the greatest most successful part of your life, do so with gratitude. Laying down your success doesn't mean you loose it, it is just an acknowledgment that God is faithful to give us the desires of our hearts. When we prosper, the Kingdom prospers.
Psalms 9:1-2 says, "I will thank you, Lord with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High."
Genesis 4 gives an account of Cain and Able's sacrifices to God. If you don't know the story, basically they were brothers. Cain grew crops, and Able raised livestock. One element wasn't more important than the other to God, but the giver's heart was. Able gave the best of his flocks in sacrifice to God, were as Cain just gave. It is important to give, but to give with faith whole heartedly.
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