The believers of Israel were commanded by God to totally focus their lives on their Lord, and to actively remove any idols, sins, or barriers that could have interfered with their worship of the one True God. Let's talk about "worship" for a moment, since it certainly applies to our passage. First, what does "worship" mean? 

"Worship" is the Hebrew (shachah [shaw-khaw']), which literally means to "worship, bow down to, reverence as God, show homage to, prostrate oneself before in devotion". The Israelites were a people who were called by, chosen, saved, and set apart from the other nations by God our Father. As they were recipients of the greater Grace of God, God demanded ... I repeat, demanded that they love and worship Him and Him alone. Repeatedly in Deuteronomy we have seen God warn Israel that they were to worship Him, and refuse to worship the idols of Canaan. We saw this in:

Deuteronomy 4:19-20 "And lest thou lift up thine eyes unto heaven, and when thou seest the sun, and the moon, and the stars, even all the host of heaven, shouldest be driven to worship them, and serve them, which the LORD thy God hath divided unto all nations under the whole heaven. [20]  But the LORD hath taken you, and brought you forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day."

Deuteronomy 8:19-20 "And it shall be, if thou do at all forget the LORD thy God, and walk after other gods, and serve them, and worship them, I testify against you this day that ye shall surely perish. [20]  As the nations which the LORD destroyeth before your face, so shall ye perish; because ye would not be obedient unto the voice of the LORD your God."

Deuteronomy 11:16-17 "Take heed to yourselves, that your heart be not deceived, and ye turn aside, and serve other gods, and worship them; [17]  And then the LORD'S wrath be kindled against you, and he shut up the heaven, that there be no rain, and that the land yield not her fruit; and lest ye perish quickly from off the good land which the LORD giveth you."

Now, how do you properly "Worship" God? Well, our text in Deuteronomy chapter twelve is going to tell us. The Israelites were called by God to cast out the idols completely, throw away the false gods, refuse to compromise with them. How were these gods to be thrown out or chased out? 

~ FOCAL ~ Deuteronomy 12.2 ".... Ye shall utterly destroy all the places ..."

('abad [aw-bad']), completely wipe out these idols, leaving no trace of them. Why? Because, if left in the land, they would be a distraction to worship of the true God. Do you "compromise" with the idol? Do you leave one because it is attractive, or has historical significance, or because my momma and daddy used to do it, so it is fine? The Lord says,

~ FOCAL ~ Deuteronomy 12.2 "... upon the high mountains, and upon the hills, and under every green tree ..."

If it's in a pretty place in the mountains, or on a rolling, beautiful hill, or even under a lush tree ... it must go. No compromise! 

~ FOCAL ~ Deuteronomy 12.3 "And ye shall overthrow their altars, and break their pillars, and burn their groves with fire; and ye shall hew down the graven images of their gods, and destroy the names of them out of that place."

And here's the trick, Israel. YOU must do this. Oh, God will empower you. He has promised you, and promised you this great land. But He wants to work THROUGH you to accomplish His goals. You can let Him work through you now, overthrow the idols, and prepare the land for worship of the True God - or you can ignore His commands, and cause His anger to be kindled against you, and then HE will overthrow both idols, and perhaps YOU.

You, too, Church Age believer, are called to prepare your hearts for worship. Worship is not merely going to Church, though worship can be found there. Worship is not just in the song service, nor in the sermon, though worship can be found in both. When we prepare to worship Him we must, as Israel did, chase out all the idols that may be inhabiting our land. We must lay aside and repent of our pride, our arrogance, our self certainty, and go before our Maker on bended knee, giving homage to our Lord Jesus. Charles Spurgeon said,

"... When the soul is overwhelmed with the majesty of God's glory, though it may not express itself in song, or even utter its voice with bowed head in humble prayer, yet it silently adores. Our incarnate God is to be worshipped as "the Wonderful." That God should consider His fallen creature, man, and instead of sweeping him away with the besom of destruction, should Himself undertake to be man's Redeemer, and to pay his ransom price, is, indeed marvelous! But to each believer redemption is most marvelous as he views it in relation to himself. It is a miracle of grace indeed, that Jesus should forsake the thrones and royalties above, to suffer ignominiously below for you. Let your soul lose itself in wonder, for wonder is in this way a very practical emotion. Holy wonder will lead you to grateful worship and heartfelt thanksgiving. It will cause within you godly watchfulness; you will be afraid to sin against such a love as this. Feeling the presence of the mighty God in the gift of His dear Son, you will put off your shoes from off your feet, because the place whereon you stand is holy ground. You will be moved at the same time to glorious hope. If Jesus has done such marvelous things on your behalf, you will feel that heaven itself is not too great for your expectation. Who can be astonished at anything, when he has once been astonished at the manger and the cross? What is there wonderful left after one has seen the Savior?"

Prepare your heart for worship - repent, restore, for as 1 John 1:9 states, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Proper worship not only means "PREPARING the land" for worship, but also worshipping WHERE God told them to worship. The Israelites were to worship in the "Tabernacle" while they were nomadic, that "Tent" of God. When David conquered the land for God his son, Solomon, built a Temple for God where the children of Israel were to worship. They were NOT to worship in the same places where the idolaters worshipped, but where God told them to worship. If the Israelite could not get to the Temple to worship, they traditionally faced in the direction of the Temple and worshipped God:

Psalms 5:7  "But as for me, I will come into thy house in the multitude of thy mercy: and in thy fear will I worship toward thy holy temple."

Regardless as to the location, though, true worship of God always starts in the heart of the believer.  A.W. Tozer said, "We Christians must simplify our lives or lose untold treasures on earth and in eternity. Modern civilization is so complex as to make the devotional life all but impossible. The need for solitude and quietness was never greater than it is today". 

We are told by our Lord Jesus:

John 4:23-24 "But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. [24]  God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth."

And again,

1 Corinthians 6:19-20 "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? [20]  For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."

True worship of God for the believer starts in the heart devoted to God. In the Church Age the believer is called by God to join with other believers in worship, as a part of the Body of Christ, the Church. What Church? What denomination? Any local Church, any denomination that reverences Jesus Christ and His Word, the Bible. And while in fellowship with other believers, Rejoice! For you are children of the Most High, bought with the terrible sacrifice of our Lord Jesus, indwelt by the Spirit of Promise. 

Ephesians 5:18-21 "And be not drunk with wine, wherein is excess; but be filled with the Spirit; [19]  Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord; [20]  Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ; [21]  Submitting yourselves one to another in the fear of God."

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18  "Rejoice ever more. [17]  Pray without ceasing. [18]  In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you."

Hebrews 13:15-16 "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. [16]  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

FOCAL - Deuteronomy 12:6-7 "And thither ye shall bring your burnt offerings, and your sacrifices, and your tithes, and heave offerings of your hand, and your vows, and your freewill offerings, and the firstlings of your herds and of your flocks: [7]  And there ye shall eat before the LORD your God, and ye shall rejoice in all that ye put your hand unto, ye and your households, wherein the LORD thy God hath blessed thee."

True worship of God demands PREPARATION of the land (heart), Worshipping WHERE God tells you to worship, and finally RECOGNITION of God, of WHO GOD IS,  in the action of worship. The Israelites were to bring things to God as a part of their worship. These things were not brought to God because He needed them, for God needs nothing ... He is and always will be self sufficient ... but these things were brought by the people to teach them that, though we may have many possessions, we have them because God, in His Grace, has given them to us.

Dr. Willmouth states:

"Burnt offerings," were the whole offerings consumed on the altar and were to be given at various times to achieve atonement for the offender (Lev 1:1-17; 6:8-13).

"Sacrifices," when combined with "burnt offerings" were called fellowship offerings that were offerings of thanksgiving to God which brought fellowship between God and man (Lev 3; 7:11-21).

"Tithes," a tenth of the returns from the soil was to be brought to the sanctuary (Lev 27:30-32).

"Contribution of your hand," (heave offerings) represented a portion that was lifted up from the larger mass and set aside for the use of the priests. This may refer to "special gifts," that were contributions made to the Lord at any time (Lev 22:21; 27:2).

"Vows" cover an almost limitless array of things that a worshiper might vow to the Lord.

"Freewill offerings" were voluntary communal offerings that were less restricted than some of the others. 

As God had given freely to Israel all her riches, the Israelite in fellowship was to RECOGNIZE God was the Source of all, and give a portion back of both property as well as self. In the Church Age we may not offer burnt offerings before God, but we are to give freely of ourselves and our property as God leads us to do. Riches did not save us:

1 Peter 1:18-19 "Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers; [19]  But with the precious blood of Christ, as of a lamb without blemish and without spot"

Only Jesus, and His great sacrifice - this alone saved us. We are therefore to offer sacrifices of praise, and service to our God without ceasing, knowing that this is what pleases our Savior - this is what pleases our Lord.

Hebrews 13:15-16 "By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. [16]  But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased."

This obedient worship brings rejoicing into the heart of the believer. We are called, not to live as the world lives, or as we read in 

FOCAL - Deuteronomy 12:8 "Ye shall not do after all the things that we do here this day, every man whatsoever is right in his own eyes."

No, our standard of right and wrong is to be determined not by what WE think, but by what God has decreed, what God has spoken.