A wise man once defined worship using this passage of scripture:
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil for You are with me. Your rod and Your staff they comfort me. You prepare a table in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Psalm 23:4,5)
The act of worship happens when our cup overflows; when God has poured so much into us that it cannot be contained. Even when we are at our worst and the world seems to press in all around us, God blesses us with more than we will ever need. Even when it feels like we have nothing, even when we feel empty, the fullness of God overflows in our lives.
Consider what God has done in the single act of sending His son to die on the cross for us. This alone should be enough to fill us to overflowing and yet, we are unaffected (even though He has done so much more beyond just this.) We stand before Him unmoved, because we're not in the mood, or we don't feel like it, or it's not our thing, or we're bored. But it's not about any of these things. It's not about US; it is about who God is and what He has done for us. Worship is a decision. We must choose to recognize that God is constantly pouring His love into us and in turn, respond by calling out to Him to say thank you. It's not about the music, or some crazy light display, or what instruments are being used, or how good looking the worship leader is. It is about letting God's love wash over us and flow through us, as we thank Him for what He's done. When we worship, we're surrendering ourselves to God out of gratitude. It's in this place, in this state of surrender, that we encounter God, this is where you feel God.
And it is something worth being excited about.
After spending this past weekend serving God in a poverty stricken area, saw this in action. Even though many where homeless and only had the clothes on their back, many where so thankful just to be alive. They trusted God to get them through this difficult time in their lives. They did not blame God for the situation they were in but instead they thanked him because it helped to lead them closer to God. I believe that sometimes we need an eye opening experience like this to see how truly blessed we really are.
ReplyDeleteSo true, I think the general ease of our lives makes it challenging for us to be appreciative. Instead, we end up with this sense of entitlement that tells we deserve more and what we have isn't good enough. It's like the wise man I quoted here told me... when we think we "need" everything we simply want, it's like coming to God with a dump truck rather than a cup. We want so much more after he's already given us everything we need that we're only left disappointed and yet we blame God for not satisfying us. Our perspective is so flawed.
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