Posted on Monday, February 15, 2021

The Holy Bod

You Were Bought At A Price, So Honor God With Your Body

SYNOPSIS: Don’t treat your body like a rental house from which you’re about to be evicted. If there is momentary remorse as you stand before the judgment seat of Christ in eternity, it will likely be how for you treated your body while you were on earth. The Apostle Paul called our physical being, “the temple of the Holy Spirit.” That itself should alert us to pay better attention to how we care for them! Do you treat proper “temple care” as optional; opting instead for excess eating, under-exercising, and over-indulging your selfish desires? Have you nurtured your spirit, pampered your emotions, and fed your intellect while neglecting your body? However you may answer those questions, from this day forward, as a way to honor the Creator of you, make a commitment to care of the holy bod!

Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // 2 Corinthians 6:19-20

Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.

I don’t quite understand how things will play out when we as believers stand before the judgment seat of Christ. Maybe it will have nothing to do with the negative image the word “judgment” conjures in our mind. Perhaps the judgment will only be a positive experience, as when an arbitrator renders a favorable judgment on our behalf.

However, the Apostle Paul speaks of the believer having to give account at that moment for the deeds done while living in the body—whether good or bad. (See 2Corinthians 5:9-11) It is hard to imagine feeling any remorse when you’ve permanently planted your foot in heaven for the first time, but it could be that we will feel some momentary remorse at that moment over wasted opportunity to grow into Christlikeness or failure to trust God to a greater degree or the lack of effort to extend his kingdom while we were on Planet Earth. I say “momentary remorse” because I can’t imagine anything but sheer joy that we, unworthy sinners saved only by grace, will get to spend eternity in God’s heaven.

If there is momentary remorse, one of the areas of disappointment for many Christians in our day will surely be how we have treated our physical bodies. The Apostle Paul called them “the temple of the Holy Spirit”, which should have alerted us to pay better attention to how we cared for them. Yet we have treated proper “temple care” as optional; opting instead for excess eating, under-exercising, and over-indulging our own selfish desires. We have loved on our spirits, pampered our emotions, and fed our intellect, but our bodies—we have treated them like a rental house from which we are about to be evicted.

However, Paul says that we are to honor God with our bodies. Why? They are not ours—they really belong to God. We are driving his car, so to speak, and it is not a Yugo, it is a Lamborghini. He created our physical bodies, designed them in his very own image, put the Breath of Life into them, then after we had irreparably corrupted them through sin, he redeemed them at a very costly price to himself. Our bodies belong to God, and one day we are going to turn them back in to him. So we really ought to give careful thought to how we treat them between now and then.

So what should be we doing with these “holy bod’s” that have been loaned out to us? Let me suggest three things:

First, treat them physically as if God himself were living inside—which he is. Watch what you eat—and how much, get the proper amount of rest and exercise, give them the best appearance you can—without over indulging, and keep them untainted by immorality and other kinds of impurity.

Second, use them to serve God. The Holy Spirit inhabits your body, and he has placed within certain of his gifts, unique to you. Make sure you are exercising those gifts to his glory by serving others.

Third, offer them as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God. After all, in light of his creation—and recreation—of them, it is the least you can do. As Paul urged in Romans 12:1 (The Message), “Take your everyday, ordinary life—your sleeping, eating, going-to-work, and walking-around life—and place it before God as an offering. Embracing what God does for you is the best thing you can do for him.”

Yeah, you’re walking around at the moment in a holy bod! So remember, you’re going to turn it back in some day!

“The body is a sacred garment.” ~Martha Graham

Reflect & Apply: Write out an improvement plan for your use of “the temple” in the following three areas: 1) Your physical habits—how you can eat, rest and exercise more consistently. 2) Your spiritual gifts—how and where you can serve in the Body of Christ. 3) Your sacrificial worship—how you can turn your physical life into a daily offering to God.

Posted on Friday, February 12, 2021

The Kingdom Logic of Illogical Generosity

Giving To The Poor Insures God's Blessing On You

SYNOPSIS: “Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for God will bless you in everything you do,” says Deuteronomy 15:10. Alleviating poverty is not the government’s responsibility, nor is it “the church” role to “do something” about the poor. Rather, you are the answer to the pandemic of poverty in your community. Christians—you and I—must be generous where we can and with whom we can. We must give freely, responsibly and strategically to help anyone within our power to help. And as we become the conduit of kingdom generosity toward the poor, God has ordained it that we will never run out of resources to give away.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 15:7-10

If there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you, do not be hard-hearted or tightfisted toward them. Instead, be generous and lend them whatever they need. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. Give generously to the poor, not grudgingly, for the Lord your God will bless you in everything you do.

God has a plan for the poor, and it will work. Really! The plan will seem illogical to most, but such is the upside-down logic of the Kingdom of God. What is the logic? The generosity of God’s people. The alleviation of poverty in the big, wide world starts with generosity toward the world near you.

It is really too bad that that poverty in our day has become such a political and sociological football. The problem of the poor would be dealt with quite effectively if we would simply adopt how God told the ancient Israelites to treat the poor among them. Rather, in America, one side says that poverty is the fault of the poor, that they just need to buck up and be responsible, that giving a hand out only perpetuates their poor ways. This “people must be responsible for their own lives” approach however, can be very hard-hearted toward something that is near to God’s heart.

Then on the other philosophical side, many say that the wealthy must be taxed at higher rates so that the government can provide more programs, more handouts, more entitlements to alleviate poverty in America. In much of that “it’s the rich’s fault and the government’s responsibility” approach, we are very likely to be guilty of hurting with our helping. Furthermore, it leads to an attitude that responsibility to help the needy is someone else’s: the government, the rich, the church’s, “they”.

Under the Old Testament law, it was very clear that God did not want any poor to be among the Israelites as they settled into their Promised Land: “There should be no poor among you, for the Lord your God will greatly bless you in the land he is giving you as a special possession.” (Deuteronomy 15:4) Poverty would stand as an affront to the God who desired to bless all of his people.

Furthermore, when fellow Israelites fell into poverty, God said that it was the responsibility of their neighbors to help lift them out. They were to freely loan them money, at a reasonable interest rate, and then be willing to forgive the loan at the end of the pre-established seventh year of debt elimination—even if the loan was made toward the conclusion of those seven years:

At the end of every seventh year you must cancel the debts of everyone who owes you money. This is how it must be done. Everyone must cancel the loans they have made to their fellow Israelites. They must not demand payment from their neighbors or relatives, for the Lord’s time of release has arrived…. Do not be mean-spirited and refuse someone a loan because the year for canceling debts is close at hand. If you refuse to make the loan and the needy person cries out to the Lord, you will be considered guilty of sin. (Deuteronomy 15:1-2,9)

As the Israelites took this posture toward the poor among them, and there would be poor among them (“if there are any poor Israelites in your towns when you arrive in the land the Lord your God is giving you”, Deuteronomy 15:7), God promised that they would live under his enormous blessings, both in their economy and in their world impact:

You will receive this blessing if you are careful to obey all the commands of the Lord your God that I am giving you today. 6 The Lord your God will bless you as he has promised. You will lend money to many nations but will never need to borrow. You will rule many nations, but they will not rule over you. (Deuteronomy 15:5-6)

Now of course, there were significant differences with ancient Israel and where we find ourselves today. Israel was a theocracy, we are not. They didn’t have easy credit and rampant materialism like we do. Most people didn’t foolishly misspend their way into the poorhouse. The poor were not typically addicted to alcohol or drugs or suffer from mental disorder like we find in a significant portion of the homeless today. They didn’t just tolerate laziness and dependence on government subsidies like we do, they had ways of dealing with chronically irresponsible people. So yes, there are differences that would make dealing with poverty more challenging in our complex society than it was for Israel.

However, the generosity of God’s people, both to alleviate the poverty of the poor near to you as well as the blessings of God that will come upon you for your generosity is still in play today. So rather than making poverty the government’s responsibility, or always thinking that “the church” should do something about it, be the church. Be generous where you can and with whom you can. Give freely, responsibly and strategically to help anyone within your power to help. If each of us take it upon ourselves to eliminate the poverty of another, we can make a dent in the larger problem of the poor in the world today.

Become a conduit of kingdom generosity and you will never run out of resources to give.

Can you imagine what would happen in our society if untold numbers of Christians became conduits of God’s generosity? My sense is that we would be well on our way to eliminating poverty in our day.

Going Deeper: Who is within your power to help? Today, be generous toward them in whatever way you are able. God will bless you for it.

Posted on Wednesday, February 10, 2021

Being Cool Is Never A Blessable Motive

For The Glory Of God Alone Is

SYNOPSIS: When our motive for doing anything is because it is cool by the world standards, perhaps the case could be made that we are bowing to man-made idols. When God goes to such great lengths to pull his people out of their heathen culture in order to make them into his own holy nation, a people that stand out in the world as distinctly belonging to him and distinctly different than the world, why would they then revert to worldly ways? Why walk as close to the edge of worldliness without stepping over into it instead of pressing into the core of holiness unto the Lord. Why not press into the center of God’s will, which looks more like Jesus and less like the world?

The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 14:1-2 (Living Bible)

Since you are the people of God, never cut yourselves as the heathen do when they worship their idols nor shave the front halves of your heads for funerals. You belong exclusively to the Lord your God, and he has chosen you to be his own possession, more so than any other nation on the face of the earth.

To be forthcoming, I have never had either purple hair or a Mohawk. I don’t have any piercings. And I have never seriously entertained the notion of a tattoo—although if I were ever brave enough to get one, I would consider the iconic “Mother” tat embedded within a sailor’s anchor. (You probably have to be of a certain age to appreciate that!)

I don’t have any of those and don’t really want to, but just to be clear, neither do I have anything per se against quirky hair, body piercings, and tattoos that rival Michelangelo’s work. Some people can pull it off; I would look like a doofus. I know plenty of amazing people who have some or all of the above, whose Christian character and kingdom impact is without question.

So what’s the point? I simply want to get you to think about the verses I selected where God prohibits the Israelites from either getting a body piercing or their hair cut in some kind of weird style. Similarly in Leviticus 19:28, God told his people never to get tattoos or engage in cutting: ‘You shall not cut yourselves nor put tattoo marks upon yourselves in connection with funeral rites; I am the Lord.” Now it would be fair to protest that this prohibition is only in the context of funerals, but I believe the clear sense here is that if God didn’t like it under those circumstances, he probably didn’t approve of it under normal conditions. You can disagree with me on that, but that is how I see it.

Obviously, many believers don’t see it as I do. In today’s world, a growing number of them do all of the above—attention-getting hairdos, very obvious tattoos, cutting, and more piercings than you can shake a stick at. But I don’t think that is the main point here; it is not so much the activity that we should focus on, it is the motive: “As the heathen do.” Most other Bible versions have translated it, “Since you are the people of the Lord your God.” Either way, the message is clear: you belong to God, not to the world. So don’t copy what you see around you.

When our motive for doing anything is because it is cool by the world standards, perhaps the case could be made that we are bowing to man-made idols. When God went to such great lengths to pull his people out of their heathen culture in order to make them into his own holy nation, a people that would stand out in the world as distinctly belonging to him and distinctly different than the world, why would they then revert to worldly ways? Why would they take on patterns and behaviors of the sin-filled culture from which they had been rescued? Why would they admire the latest style or trend or hip factor from the nations that were hostile to God? Why go along to get along? Why walk as close to the edge of worldliness without stepping over into it instead of pressing into the core of holiness unto the Lord.

That, I believe, is the main thing here—what we ought to consider as we seek a relevant application from this passage. Why live on the edge of sin? Why not press into the center of God’s will? Now let me also quickly add that if you are a believer who already has one of the things mentioned above, don’t sweat it. God starts with where you are and then moves you down the road to Christlikeness. Just make sure in the journey forward from today your motive is to be more and more like Jesus.

Now for old school Christians who tend to look in disdain on a younger generation that expresses itself with piercings, tattoos, and purply-spiked hair, how about what we do to keep up with the Joneses? What about needing to drive the latest car we can’t afford or having more square footage in our house than a Roman legion required or getting the latest $800 iPhone when the one we have is barely six months old? Do we do exactly what we accuse the young and restless of doing? Is there really all that much difference?

Again, my point in this devotional take on Deuteronomy 14 is simply to get us to consider where we may be flirting with culture rather than striving for greater Christlikeness. The next time you see someone sporting some sort of body art that you don’t appreciate, take a good, long look at your own motives. Perhaps, in that moment, the Holy Spirit is calling you to a closer walk with Jesus.

That is God’s goal for you, by the way: that you would look more and more like Jesus while looking less and less like the world.

Going Deeper: Here is a hard but good prayer to offer to your Lord today: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test my thoughts. Point out anything you find in me that makes you sad, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24)

Posted on Monday, February 8, 2021

What’s In God’s Wallet?

The Bible In One Verse

SYNOPSIS: John 3:16 is the whole Bible in just one verse. There’s not a simpler, yet more profound truth in the Bible than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But that is not just some moving statement of God’s universal love; it is also a profound declaration of his personal love for you. Said another way, God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.

Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // 1 John 3:1

How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us it that it did not know him.

The man who penned this heartwarming verse arguably understood the love of God better than any other human being. It was John the beloved, the Apostle of love. Of course, he was also the author of the most well-known, well-loved verse in the entire Bible—John 3:16,

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life.”

That is the whole Bible in just one verse. There’s not a simpler, yet more profound truth in the Bible than this: God loved the whole world so much that he gave his Son to die for it. But that is not just some moving statement of God’s universal love; it is also a profound declaration of his personal love for you. St. Augustine, the 4th century North African Bishop, one of the most influential figures in church history, purportedly said it this way,

“God loves each and every one of us as if there were only one of us.”

Did you realize that if you were the only person on this planet, God would’ve loved you so much that he still would have given Jesus to die for your sins? There would still be John 3:16 if you were the sole human being ever created. Max Lucado wrote an entire book just on that one verse called “3:16”. Here is how he put it,

“If God had a wallet, your photo would be in it.”

I don’t know if you really get this or not—and I pray that somehow, somewhere it becomes reality to you, perhaps even before you finish reading this blog, or maybe as you memorize and reflect on this verse. But the truth is, God has a crazy, inexplicable, unreasonable love for you! He really does.

Karl Barth was one of the most brilliant and complex theologians of the twentieth century, writing volume after volume on the meaning of life and faith. A reporter once asked Dr. Barth if he could summarize what he had said in all those volumes. Barth thought for a moment and then said:

“Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.”

That’s the whole of God’s truth in a single phrase. Lean into that today—you are the object of his lavish love; you are Abba’s favored child. That is what you are!

Reflect & Apply: Peruse Ephesians 1-2 and make a list of all the things that God has lavished on you through Jesus Christ. Your list should have at least 10 “spiritual blessings” on it.

Posted on Monday, February 8, 2021

You Are Not Your Own

Don't Cheapen The Purchase Price Of Your Salvation

SYNOPSIS: You are not your own. Like the Israelites who were bought with the Passover blood out of their Egyptian slavery, you have been bought out of slavery to sin with an inconceivably and incomparably high price—the precious blood of Jesus: “You were bought at a price.” (1 Cor 7:23) You were bought; someone died for your freedom from sin. God caused his Son’s execution to secure your redemption. How do you think that makes God feel when you cheapen the price of your redemption by becoming enslaved sin again? Hard to hear? I know! A bit harsh? Of course! Yet how great the jealous love of God for you that he would execute the penalty of death for your spiritual infidelity—upon his Son!

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 13:4-5

You must never worship any God but Jehovah; obey only his commands and cling to him. The prophet who tries to lead you astray must be executed, for he has attempted to foment rebellion against the Lord your God who brought you out of slavery in the land of Egypt. By executing him you will clear out the evil from among you.

If you have been reading through the first five books of the Bible, what is known as the Pentateuch, or the Books of Moses, by now you are accustomed to how severely God deals with spiritual rebellion. You may not like it, you may not understand it, you may have difficulty squaring this “mean” side of God with your twentieth century concept of a loving, merciful deity. You may prefer the New Testament “Father” to the Old Testament “Judge.”

So what do you do with a chapter like this in which God demands death to those who lead his people into spiritual apostasy? And not just any old death, the one who is guilty is to be summarily executed. They are to be stoned—one of the most brutal forms of death imaginable: “Stone him to death because he has tried to draw you away from the Lord your God who brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 13:10) Furthermore, the one who is responsible to report the breach of religious fidelity—and make no mistake, this chapter makes it clear that no one can turn a blind eye to this kind of rebellion—is to literally throw the first rock: “Do not spare that person from the penalty; don’t conceal his horrible suggestion. Execute him! Your own hand shall be the first upon him to put him to death, then the hands of all the people.” (Deuteronomy 13:8-9)

Sidebar: Interestingly, in the New Testament, Jesus had something to say about casting the first stone, didn’t he! Only those who were without sin were qualified to take such action—which obviously meant that no one would ever qualifiy to throw out the first pitch. So was Jesus correcting his Father’s overreaction to spiritual infidelity? Not at all. Rebellion against a holy and just God demanded his full wrath—death: “For the wages of sin is death.” (Romans 6:23) The problem was, every human being was guilty and therefore deserving of execution: “For all have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standards.” (Romans 3:23) If God executed justice as he should, no one would live. That is the whole point of the gospel: Jesus paid the death penalty for us by dying on the cross in our place: “For he himself bore our sins in his own body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; ‘by his wounds you have been healed.’” (1 Peter 2:24) Truly, this is the Good News: “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 6:23)

Thank God for the grace—God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense—that delivers me from the wages I deserve to get. But that still leaves us with this chapter and what seems like an inflexible, draconian, brutal side of God. For sure, God’s ruling is a drastic response to sin. But think about what this means: God redeemed the Israelites out of slavery and made them his very own people: “the Lord your God…brought you from the land of Egypt, the place of slavery.” (Deuteronomy 13:10) God redeemed them, that is, he bought them at a high price, which, among other things, meant thousands of Egyptian firstborn sons died in place of the Israelites. (Read Exodus 11-13) God purchased them with blood, so the Israelites were not their own—they belonged to God. He had every right to jealously guard their fidelity to him. Setting aside our inability to comprehend the inconceivably high demand of spiritual infidelity, what we can comprehend is that God is fiercely protective of the loyalty of our hearts toward him.

Here’s the deal: Not only the Israelites, but neither are you your own. You, too, have been bought out of slavery with an inconceivably and incomparably high price—the precious blood of Jesus Christ: “You were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies…. You were bought at a price; do not become slaves of human beings.” (1 Corinthians 6:20, 7:23) You were bought; someone died for your freedom from sin. God caused his Son’s execution for your freedom. How do you think that makes him feel when you cheapen the price of your redemption by flirting with sin?

Dramatic, yes. Hard to hear, I know. Inflexible, of course. Yet how great the jealous love of God for you that he would still execute the penalty of death for your spiritual infidelity…upon his Son!

You are not your own—and that is scary good!!

Going Deeper: Memorize 1 Peter 2:24 this week. Then quote it each day in a prayer of gratitude for Christ’s redeeming grace.

Posted on Wednesday, February 3, 2021

Everybody Ought To Go To Church

You Can't Edify Others If You Avoid Them

SYNOPSIS: We were made for each other, we need each other, and others need us. Why do you think we are called the body of Christ or the family of God? Why do you think each one of us was given gifts of the Spirit as salvation? Those gifts are meant for use as we edify one another. How in the world can we love each other, serve one another, lay down our lives for one another, and walk in unity with one another if we are not in a physical place with one another? When we neglect going to church, the world will not be able to know that we are his disciples by our love for one another.

The Journey// Focus: Deuteronomy 12:4-5, 8-11

You must not make sacrifices to your God just anywhere, as the heathen sacrifice to their gods. Rather, you must build a sanctuary for him at a place he himself will select as his home…. You will no longer go your own way as you do now, everyone doing whatever he thinks is right; (for these laws don’t go into effect until you arrive in the place of rest the Lord will give to you). But when you cross the Jordan River and live in the Promised Land, and the Lord gives you rest and keeps you safe from all your enemies, then you must bring all your burnt sacrifices and other offerings to his sanctuary, the place he will choose as his home.

In full disclosure, I am a pastor. I love the church—not just the living organism, but the organizational structure. I love the place where the body of Christ comes together, and I place a high value on its importance to the health of the believer, the witness of the spiritual community and the authentic worship of God. Now let me hasten to add that I also believe that the place can be not only a traditional church building, but the church can meet in a home, an office, a coffee shop or under a tree. Wherever two or more come together in Christ’s name, and there is intentional discipleship, employment of the Spirit’s gifts, fellowship, witness to the lost, worship of God and missionality, there the church can thrive in a God-pleasing way.

I love the church! And I think everybody ought to go to a central place with other believers to be in church. Of course, we are the church! But there is also a place we call the church, and even though tabernacle/temple laws have changed from the Jewish Scriptures as God transitioned his covenant to the new community in the Christian scriptures, there is still a place for the central location of gathering.

I know that rubs against the grain of a growing number of believers who think they can be Christian without going to church, but I strongly disagree. Of course, you don’t go to church to be a believer, but you should go to church because you are a believer. Why? Clearly, it was important enough to God that he warned his people against a lackadaisical, wili-nili, do-whatever-you-want approach to central worship. He warned them that taking such an approach would lead to undisciplined and unaccountable worship that would drift into worship that was more man-focused than God-centered.

When God destroys the nations in the land where you will live, don’t follow their example in worshiping their gods. Do not ask, ‘How do these nations worship their gods?’ and then go and worship as they do! You must not insult the Lord your God like that! (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

Think I am stretching the interpretation of that statement to fit my own appeal for church attendance? Go back and read the chapter in context. That is precisely what the Lord is warning his people will happen if they wander in their worship from the central place of sacrifice. A believer neglecting the physical place of worship is a believer who cares more about their preferences than God’s prescription for worship that honors him. Frances Havergal was right: “An avoidable absence from church is an infallible evidence of spiritual decay.”

There is a further reason for gathering with other believers in a physical location. Christianity, just as is true of Judaism, is communal as much as, if not more than it is individual. We were made for each other, we need each other, and others need us. Why do you think we are called the body of Christ and the family of God? Why do you think each one of us was given gifts of the Spirit at salvation? Those gifts are meant for use as we edify one another. How in the world can we love each other, serve one another, lay down our lives for one another, and walk in unity with one another if we are not in a place with one another? When we neglect the central place of worship, the world will not be able to know that we are his disciples by our love for one another.

I could go on and on with this one, but let me just say it again—as clearly, strongly and unapologetically as I know how: everybody, and that includes you, ought to go to church. And make it early and often, why don’t you!

Going Deeper: Go to church this week, and then again the next week. And when you are there, think about how pleasing that is to the Lord of the church.

Posted on Monday, February 1, 2021

What God Wants—And Deserves

You’re Reason for Being

SYNOPSIS: A.W. Tozer said, “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” An everlasting preoccupation—that’s what worship is. That’s your highest purpose, your very reason for being. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms, written in the mid 1600’s as a tool for studying doctrine, asks and answers 196 theological questions. The very first question is this: What is the chief and highest end of man? And the answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever. That is why you exist: To worship God and enjoy him forever! Today, and each day hereafter, make sure you are fulling your rai·son d’ê·tre—you reason for being!

Project 52 – Weekly Scripture Memory // Romans 12:1

Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship.

Isaac Watts was a prolific author, writing over 50 books, more than half on theology. He is best remembered, however, for his hymns, writing over 700. Even today, three centuries after he died, most hymnals have at least twenty of his songs. It is said that as Watts was dying he was reciting one of his favorites: “I’ll Praise My Maker While I Breathe.” Isaac Watts was captivated by the worship of God.

God has created us with a tremendous capacity, as well as a duty, to worship him. He wants—and deserves—that we, too, would praise our Maker while we breathe.

Victor Hugo said of his pastor: “He didn’t just study God, he was dazzled by him.” That is want God wants—and deserves—from us: To be dazzled by him.

A.W. Tozer said, “We are called to an everlasting preoccupation with God.” An everlasting preoccupation—that’s what worship is. That’s our highest purpose, our very reason for being. The Westminster Confession and Catechisms, written in the mid 1600’s as a tool for studying doctrine, asks and answers 196 theological questions. The very first question is this: What is the chief and highest end of man? And the answer: Man’s chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.

That is why we were created: To worship God and enjoy him forever…

To be agents of praise…
To be dazzled by his being…
To be captivated by his presence…
To be everlastingly preoccupied with worship!

That’s why you and I must fight to maintain, or perhaps reclaim, a Biblical understanding and a right experience of worship as God wants—and deserves—in our lives and our church. Paul is urging that in Romans 12:1,

“I appeal to you therefore, and beg of you in view of [all] the mercies of God, to make a decisive dedication of your bodies [presenting all your members and faculties] as a living sacrifice, holy (devoted, consecrated) and well pleasing to God, which is your reasonable (rational, intelligent) service and spiritual worship.” (Amplified)

Did you catch that? You and I must purpose to offer our whole life to God. Not just lip service, but life service. God-pleasing worship is more than inspired music and enthusiastic singing; it means bringing everything we are and everything we have to God in a joyful recognition of his mercy. William Barclay gave one of the best definitions of worship I’ve ever come across when he wrote,

True worship is the offering to God of one’s body, and all that one does every day with it. Real worship is not the offering to God of a liturgy, however noble, and a ritual, however magnificent. Real worship is the offering of everyday life to him, not something transacted in a church, but something which sees the whole world as the temple of the living God. As Whittier wrote: ‘“For he whom Jesus loved hath truly spoken: The holier worship which he deigns to bless, Restores the lost, and binds the spirit broken, And feeds the widow and the fatherless.” A man may say, “I am going to church to worship God,” but he should also be able to say, “I am going to the factory, the shop, the office, the school, the garage, the locomotive shed, the mine, the shipyard, the field, the byre, the garden, to worship God.”

We are not just to honor and worship God with our words on Sundays only, but also with our entire existence in all we do from Monday through Saturday. Colossians 3:17 says, “And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him.”

That means how we rest, play, handle money, feed our minds, care for our bodies and engage relationally is all worship! Whether it’s the fruit of our lips on Sunday or the fruit of our lives on Monday, the kind of worship that pleases God means we must always bring our “A game” and place it before God “… as a living sacrifice…” It’s the least—and best—we can do. It’s what God wants—and deserves!

That’s what God wants—and deserves—the sacrificial surrender of our everyday lives to him in worship.

We need to discover all over again that worship is natural to the Christian, as it was to the godly Israelites who wrote the psalms, and that the habit of celebrating the greatness and graciousness of God yields an endless flow of thankfulness, joy, and zeal. (J.I. Packer)

Reflect & Apply: Stop at the very first word of chapter 12: “Therefore”. Whenever you come to a “therefore” in the Bible, you ought to ask yourself, “what is it there for?” What Paul goes on to say in these first two verses comprises what is arguably the most important duty of all true Christ-followers: The offering of our everyday life to God as our only and reasonable act of worship. “Therefore” …what is the basis of this call to Christian duty? Hint: Go back to the previous verse, Romans 11:36. Read and reflect on what that verse means for your life.