I've been pondering something I heard Matt Redman say a few years ago. He advocates that there are some actions and emotions that should only be reserved for worship.
I'm not sure what Redman means, but I think it is a good thought. For example, how often does our praise of sports stars exceed physically and emotionally our worship of God? I'll never forget seeing Mark McGwire break the single season HR record with #62. The crowd was electrified! EVERYONE was jumping, shouting, clapping, hugging, etc. Those were only the physical responses to that home run. Just think of the emotional responses driving those physical actions. Anyway you slice it, it was an elaborate display of worship.
I remember thinking as I watched how sad it was that God is not praised with as much energy and passion. I was immediately convicted that my own worship of God was not unique at all.
What do you think? What actions/emotions should be reserved for God alone?
4 comments:
Great Question, Justin. Mordecai bowed to no one, but God and King. The 3 Hebrew children would not bow to the chocolate bunny, uh I mean the golden statue. So I guess the whole "we're not worthy" thing should just be reserved for God. We are trying in our home to use the word AWESOME only in reference to God and what He does. Aside from these things, I am thinking big picture right now. If I come up with more practicals I will list them.
Thank you for this as a reminder to us how we are to worship Him and not to other things.
Mark McGwire, I am a St. Louis Cardinals' fan, but I didn't watch that on TV but read that in the newspaper. I used to go to every home live ballgame when I was living in St.Louis. I do remember the bases stealer, Lou Broch (spelling), Ozzie Smith and other.
It is so easy to be a fan of something just as I am a John Wayne's fan. When Daddy was living, we would have fun to watch John Wayne's movies. We spend more time watching movies than reading or eating His Word. This is how bad it is.
We all need to worship Him above everything and Him alone.
Hungry for Him,
BoldLion
Check out our school's blog - on our our professors has been working through issues that touch this question.
www.mctsowensboro.org/blog
Justin, Your post really made me think and your right, we don't often offer to God our highest praise. Then I remembered a good friend of mine (a Univ of Texas Alum). As you can imagine he was on cloud 9 almost two years ago when Texas won the National Championship behind Vince Young. I spoke to him a few days before the game and he spoke of how God had blessed the two schools by bringing them to this stage; of how He would use the event in ways we cannot see, and how it would be to His glory.
We can enjoy great moments like a national championship, or McGwires home run. But we should learn to acknowledge that athletes who have great moments do so with God given talent. And these moments we can acknowledge like anything that is good or noble as from Him. Therefore we should glorify him by drawing the obvious conection we so often miss: That a Mark McGwire, or a Vince Young, whether they acknowledge it or not, did what they did because God made it so! So instead of saying, "look what Mark McGwire did", we say, look what God did!
Michael
Rowlett, TX
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