“Whom have I in heaven but Thee? And besides Thee, I desire nothing on earth. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:25-26 NAS).
Our house is a flurry of activity from sun-up-til-sundown. And our lives are jam-packed from the moment our feet hit the floor in the morning until we lay our weary bodies down late at night. Then we rise to repeat the process next day.
God instructs I am to be still and know that He is God, but I must be disciplined and determined if I am to sit quietly before the Lord.
Over the years I’ve learned if I’m not worshiping God during the week, chances are I’m not going to worship Him in the sanctuary Sunday morning.
In order to sit before my Father in Heaven, I must choose His peace, before my day begins, else chaos creeps in unannounced and before I know it, I’m off the road-and-in-the-ditch.
And then comes Sunday morning. Why do I go to the sanctuary? To see friends? To be seen by others? To be entertained? Or is it just a habit? A lifelong practice I’ve become accustomed to.
Whether I attend a small country church or a metropolitan mega church, or any size church in between, the reason for coming to the sanctuary should be the same—to worship the Lord God Almighty and His only Son, The Lord Jesus Christ. But what should worship look like?
What does it mean to worship?
This word has been so trivialized in our modern culture. Teen girls worship rock stars and movie idols. Goodness, those are dangerous words. Can a boyfriend or rock star become a god? Yes. Anything that interrupts or replaces a relationship with our Father is an idol. A god.
I’ve heard lovers remark, “I just worship the ground he/she walks on.” I believe folks have misconstrued the meaning of the word worship, else we wouldn’t be tossing the word into trite conversation.
Our Sunday School teacher, Dr. Henry Morris, III, relates that the First Commandment “You shall have no other gods before Me” literally means: Nothing between God’s face and my face.
Rogets Thesaurus describes the word worship to mean anything from faith to cultism. From piety to fanatic. But Strong’s Concordance of the Bible states the Old Testament, Hebrew word for worship in Exodus is “shachah—to depress or prostrate or bow down. The act of bowing down in homage by an inferior before a superior ruler.”
The New Testament word for worship is “proskuneo”. Pros means “to make obeisance, do reverence to/towards” and kueno “to kiss”. It is used of an act of homage or reverence to God.
Each time I see a pre-incarnate appearance of our Lord Jesus Christ or hear the Spirit of God speaking to someone in the Old Testament, how did they react? Face down in the dirt!
I’m sure every one of us have heard someone say, “When I get to heaven and I see God, I’m gonna ask Him …” No they won’t. Like all those Old Testament folks, we will all be face down, at the feet of Jesus, in heavenly turf.
So when we come into the sanctuary, shouldn’t that be the attitude of our heart too? If you remember Jesus said:
“The Pharisee stood and was praying thus to himself, ‘God, I thank Thee that I am not like other people: swindlers, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax-gatherer. I fast twice a week; I pay tithes of all that I get.’ But the tax-gatherer, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God be merciful to me the sinner!’ I tell you, this man went down to his house justified rather than the other; for everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled, but he who humbles himself shall be exalted” (Luke 18 11-14 NAS).
Who or what is the object of your worship? Your home? Your career? Your children? Perhaps famous athletes? Money? Or self?
Who or what comes between your face and God’s face?
Who or what is worth the choice of an eternity separated from the Lord Jesus Christ?
How and why we come to the sanctuary matters.
Forever.
Next week: ONWARD CHRISTIAN SOLDIERS
MOVING THE ANCIENT BOUNDARIES 