The other day, I saw a video of an Uber driver and his passengers singing along with The Weeknd’s hit song “I Can’t Feel My Face.” Every time they pulled up to a red light, the car would start shaking with all the dancing! It looked like a lot of fun, and it reminded me of these Psalms: “Shout for the joy of the Lord, all the earth. Worship the Lord with gladness; come before him with joyful songs… Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name” (Psalm 100:1-4). “Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy” (Psalm 47:1).

Isn’t that a wonderful way of thinking about our relationship with God? He wants us to engage with him through worship. He’s not calling us to sit back and let someone else do the singing – God’s calling us to get involved and not be afraid to bring our clapping, our joyful shouting and singing to him. We worship a God who has moved heaven and earth, who became man and conquered death to bring us back into communion with our Father. We’ve been lifted up out of the dunghill and washed clean by the blood of Christ. We have been renewed by his Spirit and given a share in the Son’s resurrection life. And now, as co-heirs with Christ, we are able to call ourselves sons and daughters of God. If that’s not something to sing and shout about, I don’t know what is!

So the next time you’re gathering together and participating in worship, remember what we’re singing about: God’s ultimate and free atoning grace and the life we have through Christ. We don’t have to sit back and be afraid. As we are moved by his Spirit, we can clap our hands, stomp our feet, bang a drum and dance before the Lord like King David, because we know that the Lord has brought a new covenant of grace to the whole world!

I’m Joseph Tkach, Speaking of LIFE.