Today’s Readings: Psalm 96; Exodus 24:1-18; Luke 17:20-37; Romans 15:18-21; Psalm 93
Today’s first psalm raised an interesting point for me. That point was this: “What is the most appropriate response when one encounters the power/work of God?” Lots of folks would suspect that thanksgiving should be priority one. Others would pipe in and suggest that acts of service would be a great way to respond. Those things are certainly natural and appropriate responses. The psalmist, however, points us in another direction in Psalm 96: the psalmist points us toward worship as the most appropriate response. It’s easy for many of us modern folks to miss what the psalmist is getting at here for we tend to think of worship solely as a 60-minute service - led by others - that you simply attend. The psalmist is getting at so much more than this. One of the primary definitions of worship is to have “adoring reverence or regard” for. Imagine the ways in which the depths of our spiritual lives would be different if we responded to God first and foremost in a spirit of worship. Instead of responding to God with mere thanksgiving (which may or may not imply a regard for someone as you can be thankful to someone that you neither like nor respect), we would respond with profound respect. Instead of responding to God with mere acts of service (which may or may not imply a reverence for someone as it is possible to perform acts of service out of duty or obligation), we would respond to God with awe and adoration. In other words, our spiritual lives wouldn’t be predicated on actions; they would be predicated on worshipful attitudes that would drive all of our actions – attitudes like respect, awe, and adoration. Today I would invite you to explore on which attitudes your spiritual life is predicated. Are you attitudes rooted in a sense of worship or are they rooted in something else? Til next time…
Today’s first psalm raised an interesting point for me. That point was this: “What is the most appropriate response when one encounters the power/work of God?” Lots of folks would suspect that thanksgiving should be priority one. Others would pipe in and suggest that acts of service would be a great way to respond. Those things are certainly natural and appropriate responses. The psalmist, however, points us in another direction in Psalm 96: the psalmist points us toward worship as the most appropriate response. It’s easy for many of us modern folks to miss what the psalmist is getting at here for we tend to think of worship solely as a 60-minute service - led by others - that you simply attend. The psalmist is getting at so much more than this. One of the primary definitions of worship is to have “adoring reverence or regard” for. Imagine the ways in which the depths of our spiritual lives would be different if we responded to God first and foremost in a spirit of worship. Instead of responding to God with mere thanksgiving (which may or may not imply a regard for someone as you can be thankful to someone that you neither like nor respect), we would respond with profound respect. Instead of responding to God with mere acts of service (which may or may not imply a reverence for someone as it is possible to perform acts of service out of duty or obligation), we would respond to God with awe and adoration. In other words, our spiritual lives wouldn’t be predicated on actions; they would be predicated on worshipful attitudes that would drive all of our actions – attitudes like respect, awe, and adoration. Today I would invite you to explore on which attitudes your spiritual life is predicated. Are you attitudes rooted in a sense of worship or are they rooted in something else? Til next time…
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