I had a conversation this week with a friend of mine who has many years of experience as a worship leader. The essence of the discussion settled on the fact that worship encompasses more than singing. We can sing songs of praise, sincerely and with the right motivation, but still not be a worshiper of God. Someone who sings and proclaims the praises of God can do so without being fundamentally changed, but a worshiper is someone whose life is devoted to the one whom they worship. A worshiper’s life will include praise, but one who praises is not necessarily a worshiper. Jesus, quoting Isaiah, said: *‘These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me.’* Matthew 15:8 (NLT) It is certainly possible to sing all of the right songs with all of the right words, praising God with what we say without having a transformed heart. The worshiper centers their life on God. A worshiper’s life and actions are not compartmentalized. From the beginning, sacrifice was a part of worship, but sacrifices of animals or grain offerings were only a shadow or template of what God truly desired for worship. Even under the old covenant the understanding of what God truly desired was revealed. Samuel told Saul that God *“desired obedience rather than sacrifice.”* (1 Samuel 15:22) David said, *“You do not desire a sacrifice, or I would offer one. You do not want a burnt offering. The sacrifice you desire is a broken spirit. You will not reject a broken and repentant heart, O God.”* Psalm 51:16–17 (NLT) God speaking through Amos declares what he really wants to see from us. *“I hate all your show and pretense—the hypocrisy of your religious festivals and solemn assemblies. I will not accept your burnt offerings and grain offerings. I won’t even notice all your choice peace offerings. Away with your noisy hymns of praise! I will not listen to the music of your harps. Instead, I want to see a mighty flood of justice, an endless river of righteous living.”* Amos 5:21–24 (NLT) Proverbs echoes a similar thought: *“The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.”* Proverbs 21:3 (NLT) Worship and sacrifice were initiated as something external that was offered to God as an appeal for atonement and forgiveness or as an outward exhibition of praise and adoration, but God’s real desire is our lives, transformed and offered to Him. Paul shows us what real worship is: *“And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him.”* Romans 12:1 (NLT) Someone could come to the conclusion that worship and sacrifice as prescribed by the old covenant was easy and convenient compared to what God really desires from us, but do not forget that it was ineffective. *“Under the old covenant, the priest stands and ministers before the altar day after day, offering the same sacrifices again and again, which can never take away sins.”* Hebrews 10:11 (NLT) Christ dealt with our sins once and for all by his sacrifice on the cross and he is worthy of our songs of praise and adoration, but true worship comes from lives which have been transformed and offered up as living sacrifices. God wants to see justice and mercy flow from our lives in addition to the praise and worship from our lips.