WORSHIP:  THE ULTIMATE PRIORITY

 (Day Two)

What is worship?  That’s the question, yeah?  For some it’s a purely emotional release, where one “speaks in the Spirit,” “dances in the Spirit,” cries in ecstasy . . . just “lets loose” because God is good . . . and what He does is goodness. 

 For others, it’s the logical acknowledgment that God is the creator and sustainer of everything that was, and is, and is to come.  And since the soul is eternal, that’s a long time coming, right?  And so one responds by obedience and service.

 Opposite ends of the spectrum, but both expressions equally valid.  Because you never know what you are going to do when you come face to face with the Living God.  Just last night, I really had a longing to worship God in my music.  Now, I’m close to 60 years old, and I’ve been walking this road since I was in my early 20’s.  I should be past “putting out the fleece” to know God’s will.  But last night, for some reason, I just spoke to the Lord, “Lord, I want to praise and worship you on my way home from work.”  I opened up my CD collection (I burn CD’s, and label them according to genre) . . . and the first CD my eyes rested on was my Southern Gospel:  Praise And Worship.  And I just started laughing, and praising God right there.  I hadn’t even put the CD in, and God’s “answered prayer” had me before the throne, doing what I was so clearly made to do:  praising God for who He is, and for what He’s done for me, and in me, and through me.

 For me, that’s the simplest definition of worship:  “Worship is what you do when you realize you’re in the presence of the Lord God Almighty.”  And yes, there are emotions . . . you can’t escape it. As Mr. and Mrs. Beaver so aptly stated in The Lion, The Witch, And The Wardrobe (author, C.S. Lewis):

““Who is Aslan?” asked Susan.

 

“Aslan?” said Mr. Beaver, “Why, don’t you know? He’s the King. He’s the Lord of the whole wood . . . You’ll understand when you see him.”

 

“Is--is he a man?” asked Lucy.

 

“Aslan a man!” said Mr. Beaver sternly. “Certainly not. I tell you he is the King of the wood and the son of the great Emperor-Beyond-the-Sea. Don’t you know who is the King of Beasts? Aslan is a lion--the Lion, the great Lion.”

 

“Ooh!” said Susan, “I’d thought he was a man. Is he--quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion.”

 

“That you will, dearie, and no mistake,” said Mrs. Beaver. “If there’s anyone who can appear before Aslan without their knees knocking, they’re either braver than most or else just silly.”

“Then he isn’t safe?” said Lucy.

 

“Safe?” said Mr. Beaver. “Don’t you hear what Mrs. Beaver tells you? Who said anything about safe? ’Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good. He’s the King, I tell you.”

 But don’t take Mr. Lewis’s words for it.  Scripture is full of instances in which the creation entered into the presence of the Most High God.  And the inspired, inerrant, infallible, authoritative word of God faithfully recorded those instances . . . and the responses.

 JACOB’S LADDER:  In Genesis 28, verses 10 – 22, the first night of his “exile,” fleeing from his brother Esau, Jacob fell asleep, and fell into a dream:

“And he dreamed, and behold, a stairway was set on the earth, and its top touched the heavens. And behold, angels of God were going up and going down on it.  (13)  And behold, Yahweh was standing beside him, and he said,  “I am Yahweh, the God of Abraham your father, and the God of Isaac. The ground on which you were sleeping I will give to you and to your descendants.  (14)  Your descendants shall be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west, and to the east, and to the north and to the south. And all the families of the earth will be blessed through you and through your descendants.  (15)  Now behold, I am with you, and I will keep you wherever you go. And I will bring you to this land, for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised to you.”  (16)  Then Jacob awoke from his sleep and said, “Surely Yahweh is indeed in this place and I did not know!”  (17)  Then he was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is nothing else than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven!”                               Genesis 28:12-17 

 If you know Jesus as your personal Savior and Lord, this might be your experience every night.  The writer of the Epistle To The Hebrews encourages us:

“Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession.  (15)  For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin.  (16)  Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.”  Hebrews 4:14-16 

I plan on exploring more "encounters" in future posts. Have a blessed day!