Day 13
Worship that Pleases God
Love the Lord your God
with all your heart and
with all your soul and
with all your mind and
with all your strength.
Mark 12:30
Have you ever said (or heard someone say), “I like to think of God as …”
That’s what I grew up with. Therefore, that’s what I often did. I defined God based on my priorities, my passions, my politics, my priorities, and my opinions. My God was lenient on the sins I committed and stricter on the sins that I didn’t like in others.
A few years ago, a new member didn’t like the stand we were taking on a particular social issue. Then he went to a Bible Study. He learned a principal he never thought of: It doesn’t matter what I think; it only matters what God thinks.
Rick Warren say that the first step to “worship that pleases God” is worship that is “accurate.” We worship him as he is … not as we (from our limited perspective) think he ought to be. (And learn that accurate picture of God through scripture.)
There’s a reason that this is the first step. If we’re worshiping an inaccurate picture of God, we’re not really worshiping God.
Next he wants our worship to authentic. Especially as a kid I went to church because it was dutiful. My wife doesn’t like dutiful expressions of my love (“I got you flowers because I thought I ought to on our anniversary). No. She likes the spontaneous, honest, and authentic expressions best. And sometimes it’s as simple as washing the dishes when she’s tired.
God simply desires a relationship with us. One that’s honest, spontaneous, authentic, and accurate.
In Christ’s Love,
a guy who wants his spontaneous worship
to occasionally erupt into spontaneous combustion --
a life and faith that’s one fire for God!
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