i think that worship is the healthiest when it's primarily motivated by the awesome and perfect character of God, and secondarily because of what He's done for us.

responding to his material blessing needs to remain far second, in my opinion. i feel the need to remind myself that if i lost it all i would still be infinitely rich, infinitely wealthy because of my relationship with Jesus. his perfection, his grandeur, his value... all these things are more than enough to motivate a lifetime of faithful worship. the material blessing should be icing on the cake.

i think God knows we're so swayed by our circumstances, so he uses the ups and downs of that to jump start us, awakening us when we've grown complacent or prideful. he uses material blessing to remind us of his kindness, to pull us out of despair, or to just show off his grace.

worship at it's core is the honest, simple, and passionate response to God. my prayer is that he would open my eyes and my ears so that i would take in as much of Him as i can stand. i wonder how much i could handle before i spontaneously combust.