Taya Gaukrodger on Obedience and Sacrifice

“What worship was in that moment was obedience to the voice of the Lord and sacrifice.” In this Worship Sound Bite Taya Gaukrodger expounds on the first moment in scripture when worship was mentioned. 

Abraham was “worshipping” by doing the will of the Lord or obeying the Lord in that very pivotal moment when he was asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. It’s in Genesis 22:

3 Early the next morning Abraham got up and loaded his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. 4 On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. 5 He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.”

What true “worship” really looked like in the first mention in scripture was obedience and sacrifice. This point reinforces our mission as a brand to encourage Believers to build a lifestyle of worship. 

Taya is a talented artist, but we’re most encouraged by her heart for serving God by using those talents. After spending time with her, we’re convinced that she has even more to offer our community as she shares her heart. Stay tuned for a lot more from Taya in the coming weeks.

Transcription

I define worship by going to the Bible. The first time worship is mentioned in the Bible is when Abraham, in the Old Testament, is taking his son Isaac up the mountain to worship the Lord. That’s what He tells his servant to wait here. I think it’s beautiful because it’s also God foreshadowing what he’s going to do with his own son.

Even though Abraham never had to go through- through with it, you know, Jesus had the cross on his back as he was traveling up to Golgotha. Isaac had wood on his back, traveling up the mountain, unbeknownst to him, to be sacrificed by Abraham, because that’s what God asked of him. And the first time it’s mentioned it’s said, is that Abraham turned to the servant who was traveling with them, said, I want you to wait here for Isaac and I going up to worship.

And I love that because- and I also challenged by that because there was no church service, there was no 20 minutes at the top and 5 minutes at the end. There was no song. There was no melody. What worship was in that moment was obedience to the voice of the Lord and sacrifice. So to me, that’s what worship is.

And another verse that kind of helps them go, Okay, well, how do I outwork what this worship is? Romans 12:1 and a few of those verses, particularly in the message, paraphrases my favorite. And it says, In view of God’s mercy, I love that everything is a response to God because He loved us first. But it says, in view of God’s mercy, bring your every day.

You’re eating your sleeping, you’re walking around life and place it before God as an offering, holy and pleasing to Him that is our true and proper worship. And I love that it’s obedience to what God’s calling us to do in all areas of our life. Bringing a sacrifice. Bringing a sacrifice of praise, whatever that looks like. And it has to be worked out in every area of our life. And again, like never losing that view of God, never losing that view of what He’s done for us through His Son, Jesus.