Worship for me means an hour of singing on a Sunday. What is it supposed to look like on a Wednesday afternoon at work?

“And thou shalt love the LORD thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up.”

Moses gives Israel these words on the edge of the promised land, and they became the prayer devout Jews still say twice a day. What follows the command to love God with everything is not a liturgy but a timetable: talk about this sitting in your house, walking down the road, lying down, getting up. The whole ordinary day is the arena, not a religious slot carved out inside it.

“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.”

Paul has spent eleven chapters on what God has done and now turns to the response, reaching for a temple image: present your bodies a living sacrifice. Sacrifice was the most obviously religious act available in that world, and he relocates it into your body, your working hours, your habits. He calls it reasonable service, meaning the sensible response of a normal believer rather than an elite calling.