Oliver Cromwell had one condition when he agreed to have his portrait drawn: the artist had to paint what he saw, not what he wanted the public to see. Not many of us would be so mature. We allow photographers to brush out any unseemly feature. And are we not all shocked to see the cosmetic face of actresses compared to their wake-up face?
What we do to our face before attending services may make us more presentable to others like us, but God sees our hidden parts. Those of us who matured in a culture that expected “Sunday-go-meetin” clothes continue to wear dresses, dress pants, shirts and shoes to worship. We wouldn’t wear flip-flops, shorts and tee-shirts if meeting the President of a Company or Country. Why would we think respect for the Sovereign Ruler of the universe would impose fewer demands? Especially when remembering that the purpose of worship is to acknowledge God in Christ as the source of all GOOD, of all RIGHTEOUSNESS, of all HOLINESS and of LIFE itself. Whatever our state of dress, our minds and hearts must render that obeisance to the Godhead. In the community of believers we thank God for his mercies, not congratulate each other for our giftedness. We excel each other in admitting our failures and sins, not compete with each other in proving our piety. If we come expecting God to appreciate our voices, keep still; or come expecting him to value our eloquence, say nothing; or come thinking, “I’m OK, you’re OK”, leave and find a religious science church; or with flashing strobe lights and electronic amplifiers expecting to entertain God, save it for the nightclub. They want to be entertained. God expects to be adored, with the only something we bring is ourselves to offer adoration. Worshipping the Holy Trinity means we can forget ourselves and our problems for a few moments and remember GOD’s GLORY. We can initiate an awareness of God that, if cultivated daily, can turn an hour or a day into a week of Christ-likeness we haven’t experienced before. That way, our lilliputian works can build brobdingnagian virtues by the Spirit’s presence in us II Peter 1:5-9 Above all, we want to leave a worship service knowing we have been in God’s Presence since the Spirit of God honored our motives in attending. Our faith in Christ has increased. Our knowledge of discipleship is clearer. Our commitment to serving Christ is stronger. Then, we can say with the Psalmist, We have tasted and found that the Lord is good. We have taken refuge in him and are blessed 54:6. Fini
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2024
Categories
All
|