I had planned to share this about two weeks ago, right after my first “Worship Wars” post, but then I came down with some less-than-enjoyable headcold. And as you know, the last thing you want to do with a congested head is make it try to think! But the head is now clear, and so it is now time to start posting again. The previous post was about our worship of lesser things than God Himself. So here is a bit more on that issue…
Our worship of lesser things leads to worship wars in our hearts. God indicates that He is a jealous God who is not only worthy of worship, but is not willing to share His worship with other lesser things.
Here is part of our problem… too often, “we prefer creation to the Creator.”
We end up worshiping, enjoying, and having a passion for the things He has created for us, instead of worshiping and having a passion for the One who provided these blessings.
“…in essence, sin is a fundamental failure to rejoice in what we should rejoice in. Our worship has to be redeemed and rescued from futile things. Rather than rejoicing in our Creator… we rejoice in and serve shallow, temporary things that are here one moment and gone the next. The reason some of us swing from elation to despair so easily is that we rejoice wrongly. Our worshiping is in the wrong place.”
“God, because He created us For Worship, pursues our worship. The first commandment listed in the Ten Commandments is God instructing His people to worship only Him. He said…: “I am the LORD your God….You shall have no other gods before me….You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God.” ”
“Prior to giving the command to have “no other gods,” God reminded the people who He is and what He has done. His demand and desire for worship were based on His character and the fact that He had rescued these people from bondage. He was worthy, He said, of their rejoicing in Him.”
And He is still worthy of our rejoicing in Him above all other things – because of who He is and what He has done for us. We were not led out of physical slavery/bondage, but we have been provided freedom from the bondage of sin and eternal death. We have been given the opportunity to experience abundant life through our relationship with Him – a life of joy and peace even in the midst of the difficulties of this world due to His walking with us.
Let us make sure that we engage in an internal worship war so that at the end of the battle, God emerges as the winner and the only One we take real delight in.
(Quotes from ‘Creature of the Word’ by Matt Chandler)