Respect...

Before I type anything in this study, I want to be exceedingly clear on a single point.  I am not issuing directives, and I am not suggesting that any one person's method of worship is wrong or lacking.  What I am doing is challenging myself and anyone who reads this to think about how they worship.  That's it: just think about it.  And IF there is something that anyone, including myself, learns from this that enhances their worship experience, then cry AMEN to the heavens!  Please understand, I am not assuming a Pharisaical stance here on any single point of focus - worship is strictly between creature and Creator, and it is for each person to decide what he/she is comfortable with. 

"Do not have other gods besides Me."

Deuteronomy 5:7

We are going to take a long and hard look at something that I know will cause some of you to step outside your comfort zones a little bit.  And I know that I will undoubtedly catch some heat for what I'm about to get into... but it will be worth it.  And before I say anything, I will openly admit that I am as guilty of all of this as everyone else - but a powerful reading plan that has taken me through some old wisdom has shown me things in my life that I can recognize more clearly in the church as a whole, and I think it is worth discussing.

How much respect do you carry with you when you enter the House of God each Sunday morning?  And is it the same level of respect that you show when you enter on Sunday evening?  What about on Wednesday evening?  Are you at the same level when you rehearse as when you worship?  Here's the kicker: should that level ever be different?

No.  It should not be different.  We are to have no other gods, and we are to worship the Lord who delivers us, even today, from all things (eternally).  Our level of reverence and respect for the Lord of Hosts should always be at its peak, and striving to increase just a little higher.  And this gets into a plethora of topics; the first of which I'll bring up will be how we dress... but that will come tomorrow.

Our level of respect for the God who sent His Son to die for you and your sins should be evident at all times in the House of the Lord.  Really, it should be evident at all times... PERIOD.  And as our Sunday School class teacher asked us yesterday, "do we sometimes forget to evangelize because we've forgotten how important it is," I must shout from the rooftops that I whole-heartedly agree!  We have nowhere near the level of respect and homage that the Israelites in the days of Leviticus had... they took it seriously, where we have earned our eternal freedom and that's good enough for us.  We don't walk away from worship every Sunday broken by the iniquity of our sin and the truth of how undeserving we are to receive so great a gift... no, we sit and think about what we'll have for lunch and who we could invite to come with us and when we have to leave to make it to the football game or some other such event.  In focusing on anything other than God, the Father, the Creator, we create for ourselves other gods that have more importance.  And is anything more important that eternal salvation and placement within the Father's family in Heaven?

That one probably stings for you as much as it does for me, because I did this yesterday knowing full-well that I would be typing about it today!  But it is the truth, whether any of us likes it or not.  And truth, which is intangible and unswayable, cannot be ignored.  It is yet one more proof that the law was given so that we could see just how incapable we are of keeping it, which is why Christ came!  

Don't miss this: without Jesus Christ, not one person on this planet is capable.  No one.  No one.  No one.

For those who are already reaching into Psalm 51:16-17 for proof of sacrifices not being needed and the broken spirit being all that matters, I agree with you.  For others who will say that God is not concerned with anything as much as with your heart, I agree with you, too.  However, thanks to Christ and the grace by which we are saved, shouldn't we yearn to do more for Him in whatever way we can?  And if that falls into focus or study or dress code or music or reading or TV or sports or facebook or prayer or work or anything (with respect to how we do it or how much we do it), shouldn't we wish to make some motion of gratitude in our meager and feeble way?  Or are all those other things really more important, and Jesus is only good enough for Sunday morning, as long as the songs are good and the message ends on time?

Think about it, folks... we are all guilty in some form or fashion of not showing the proper amount of respect, and it is absolutely due to something else being more important than the moment at hand, in worshipful submission, aware of both our undeservedness and the freedom we have been given through the Atonement of Christ.  Pray about this today, and honor the Lord in doing so!

God bless you all!!!