Since I have been studying biblical worship, One thing has always come to mind. If we really understood what it is that God has done for us, we would not be able to contain the joy. We would be so overwhelmed with it, that I believe it would cause us to dance and sing, to share with everyone the peace and forgiveness we have found.
To often many of us keep that joy to ourselves. To many of us don't seem excited or joyful about what God has done for us, myself included. That causes me to wonder if we truly understand at all. I know sometimes I don't. I can't comprehend the pain and suffering, the separation, the darkness that would befall me if it weren't for Christ. I have accepted Christ as my King and given Him my life, so why don't I share the joy freely with others more?
We have seen that God has a design for Worship. Gods way, confession of sin, and obedience. The next step in His design is Gratitude. Worship is the response of a grateful heart. Throughout the Old Testament, we see people worship God with gratitude for what he did for them. Noah, Abraham, David, Isaac, Israel all built alters and worshiped God with gratitude for either fulfilling promises or blessing them. It is clear through these passages that they were grateful for the deliverance God provided them.
I don't have to be delivered from thousands of roman soldiers, or be delivered from a flood of biblical proportions to have a grateful heart. All I have to do is look around. God has blessed me with a beautiful and loving wife, 3 strong healthy boys, a good church family, a good job, good friends, good parents, a nice house, the freedom that comes from living in the USA. All I have to do is look around, and I will see God's blessings in my life.
I challenge you to take a look around your life and see how God has blessed you. Then worship him with that blessing in mind.
1 comment:
Gratitude is so often overlooked as a key motivator for worship, not just an outcome. You are wise to draw worship and gratitude together so closely!
Sometimes it seems to me that life is an ongoing response to the work of God in this Creation...and one can only be grateful to Him if you actually see and experience his ongoing work. This kind of gratitude fuels the kind of worship you were describing.
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