How not to worship God

“and after they have been destroyed before you, be careful not to be ensnared by inquiring about their gods, saying, ‘How do these nations serve their gods? We will do the same.’ You must not worship the Lord your God in their way, because in worshipping their gods, they do all kinds of detestable things the Lord hates. They even burn their sons and daughters in the fire as sacrifices to their gods.” Deuteronomy 12:30-31
When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, God warned them on several occasions not to let the Canaanites live but to wipe them out completely. He gives the reason over and over again: so that the Israelites would not be drawn in to worshipping their gods – or, as we find here, worshippng the true and living God in the same way as the pagans worshipped theirs. This was what happened at the incident with the golden calf: the people made an idol, and started bowing down to it, thinking they were worshipping the God who brought them out of Egypt (Ex. 32:8).
It’s easy for us to point the finger at the Israelites and condemn them. But do we do the same thing? Think about the things the world worships today: money, fame, success, themselves. How do they worship these things? By wanting everything for themselves, and being prepared to step over others in order to get it.
God is not like other gods. He doesn’t need to be placated – in the Isralites’ time, to be brought child sacrifices; in our time, to be given lots of money or service. We need to learn how God wants to be worshipped, and do it. “God is spirit, and His worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth” (John 4:24).