Worship is the act of returning to the LORD, what He first gave us. There is the old adage that all that we would present, must not be blemished or defective, lame or blind, deformed or impotent. The Leviticus requirements are quite explicit. Of particular edict were the unction on first fruits and first-born. Whilst all these Old Testament standards were satisfied by the supreme sacrifice of the Lamb, fulfilling every requirement of the Law, is it not strange that in our “sacrifice” and worship of today, how far we have strayed? Has the Law been annulled absolutely? Do not, the principles still hold? Or have we dulled our senses with compromise?
Consider even the superficiality of the ceremonies? Whilst we may avoid, shun or even deride ostentatious displays, could it not also be derived, that our superfluity may be indicative of the nature of our appreciation,our dedications and devotions? Evaluate our preparedness, urgency, the timeliness and ardor of our worship. Not infrequently, we emulate the behavior of a submarine sonar; it take so long to hear the rebounding “ping”; because we ply in depths so deep, the depth pulse takes that long to reach the bottom and back ! So much have been dispersed, when we reflect on the quality of our praise in dedication, prayer and song. Some respond only as resounding boards, otherwise mute. Did the LORD not watch over each and every one of us? Do our hearts, really have nothing to say in response?
There is a slippery path we all travel. It begins initially when we are lackadaisical in being thankful. We excuse ourselves by thinking that the LORD knows and understands, what we find difficult to verbalize or articulate; afterall we do not at every juncture express thanksgiving or so we would think. The situation deteriorates further when we find our thankfulness and appreciation waning especially when we have been blessed with fair weather. Our silence accelerates in tandem with our slothful lack of thankfulness. Left unimpeded, we slip from silence to a lack of honoring; we will fail to honor the LORD for all His goodness and provisions, but more so, for Himself. Ironically, His gracious providence deforms to become our God-given right??? How many thump, when dark clouds appear? We writhe and whine, accosting the heavens in demand for explications.
Thankfulness and gratitude are directly proportional to an appreciation of the magnitude of the gratia. Consider the currency of our praise for the Man of the cross; whilst man’s praise will never reach such heights, does it warrant such careless repose? The LORD does have a very specific requirement for His old feasts.
"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.(Deut 16:16)
Would our worship do honor to the LORD? He does not need our substance, praise or worship or service or lives even. He did not demand in stricture that men should worship Him, but He did mandate, on how, should men find it in themselves, that they should. There is a connectivity in our hearts between grace, knowledge, thankfulness and praise leading to worship. May we constantly reassess our worship for the One, we call, our LORD. May we know Him more daily and find in our hearts, the warrant and place of worship.
God bless.
/ckh
Consider even the superficiality of the ceremonies? Whilst we may avoid, shun or even deride ostentatious displays, could it not also be derived, that our superfluity may be indicative of the nature of our appreciation,our dedications and devotions? Evaluate our preparedness, urgency, the timeliness and ardor of our worship. Not infrequently, we emulate the behavior of a submarine sonar; it take so long to hear the rebounding “ping”; because we ply in depths so deep, the depth pulse takes that long to reach the bottom and back ! So much have been dispersed, when we reflect on the quality of our praise in dedication, prayer and song. Some respond only as resounding boards, otherwise mute. Did the LORD not watch over each and every one of us? Do our hearts, really have nothing to say in response?
There is a slippery path we all travel. It begins initially when we are lackadaisical in being thankful. We excuse ourselves by thinking that the LORD knows and understands, what we find difficult to verbalize or articulate; afterall we do not at every juncture express thanksgiving or so we would think. The situation deteriorates further when we find our thankfulness and appreciation waning especially when we have been blessed with fair weather. Our silence accelerates in tandem with our slothful lack of thankfulness. Left unimpeded, we slip from silence to a lack of honoring; we will fail to honor the LORD for all His goodness and provisions, but more so, for Himself. Ironically, His gracious providence deforms to become our God-given right??? How many thump, when dark clouds appear? We writhe and whine, accosting the heavens in demand for explications.
Thankfulness and gratitude are directly proportional to an appreciation of the magnitude of the gratia. Consider the currency of our praise for the Man of the cross; whilst man’s praise will never reach such heights, does it warrant such careless repose? The LORD does have a very specific requirement for His old feasts.
"Three times a year all your males shall appear before the LORD your God at the place that he will choose: at the Feast of Unleavened Bread, at the Feast of Weeks, and at the Feast of Booths. They shall not appear before the LORD empty-handed.(Deut 16:16)
Would our worship do honor to the LORD? He does not need our substance, praise or worship or service or lives even. He did not demand in stricture that men should worship Him, but He did mandate, on how, should men find it in themselves, that they should. There is a connectivity in our hearts between grace, knowledge, thankfulness and praise leading to worship. May we constantly reassess our worship for the One, we call, our LORD. May we know Him more daily and find in our hearts, the warrant and place of worship.
God bless.
/ckh
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