09/20/2020
How deep is our desire to be a child of God? Does knowing He is near cause us to breathe in short breaths, and rush to welcome Him home with loving arms? So often we see God served as if He were an honored, but never before met, dinner guest, and Jesus as His distant traveling companion who we don’t really know, just as He was unrecognized on the road to Emmaus. Do we greet them with formality, a handshake perhaps, instead of a holy kiss, and a seat at a side table instead of with our close friends? Is this our relationship; cordial, but not personal... at least until we need a miracle... some wine perhaps?
“O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”
Psalm 63:1 ESV
Many worship God in a stuffy manner as if He were a visiting dignitary that required We welcome Him with much pomp and circumstance. We are so concerned with the formal etiquette of our religion that we hardly have time to know Him beyond a quick word now and then, or to beg His support in prayer regarding some issue that requires more than we are capable of alone. It is good that we honor and fear God, but His desire for us to know Him is much more personal than that. He longs to call us friends as He did Abraham...
“But you, Israel, my servant, Jacob, whom I have chosen, the offspring of Abraham, my friend;”
Isaiah 41:8 ESV
and to call us his children, His sons, and daughters; as He did while instructing us...
“My son, keep your father’s commandment, and forsake not your mother’s teaching.”
Proverbs 6:20 ESV
Jesus also refers to us as friends...
“No longer do I call you servants, for the servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.”
John 15:15 ESV
And as His siblings in the family of God...
“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.”
John 1:12-13 ESV
So if our relationship is to be one of friend, child, and brother, then why is it that we treat our God, and Jesus, our Savior, as if they are acquaintances who are important guests in our house, but less than family and friends?
Others worship God, and Jesus in a very different way, they gush over them with emotion, and address them as if complete equals who might be Father and Brother, but hold a lesser title of God, and Son of God... or no other title at all. They treat them as close human friends, and bicker with their Father as if they were unruly children, while treating Jesus like a contentious sibling. In this relationship there is no honor, no fearing God, and no respecting Jesus as Rabbi, master, or the one who sits at the right hand of God.
God absolutely wants us to love Him...
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might.”
Deuteronomy 6:5 ESV
But He also wants us to honor Him...
“So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.”
1 Corinthians 10:31 ESV
And Jesus also desires our love...
“Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him.”
John 14:23 ESV
But Likewise wants us to honor Him...
“but in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect,”
1 Peter 3:15 ESV
So we are to reach a balance in our Worship and relationship with God and Jesus in which we show them our heartfelt love, and yet honor and respect them. One cannot be favored over the other. Communion is solemn, but it is also spiritually uplifting as we ingest the body and blood of Christ. Baptism is sacred, and yet a cause for celebration. And, marriage is a binding covenant before God, but it is also the Joyous consummation between two that makes them one flesh. Each of our interactions with God, and Jesus involve honor, dignity, respect, and at the same time a joy, and celebration that is of one family... a family that honors its mother and father, and also our brothers, sisters, and friends...
“Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor.”
Romans 12:10 ESV
So how do we worship, and have we reached a balance between love, and honor in our relationship with God, and Jesus Christ? Do we seek them with all our heart, but do it in a respectful manner? Do we cling to God in a way which makes Him want to hold onto us as well? If not then we need to take a close look at our hearts, our worship, and our liturgy.
“My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.”
Psalm 63:8 ESV
Prayer:
Father, thank you for loving us as your children, and calling us your friends. Help us Lord to be good children, and to love you with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, while honoring you, and doing everything in our lives to bring glory to you. Holy, Holy, Holy, are you our God in whose presence we tremble, and yet know our greatest love. Praised be your name for loving us so much that you would send your only begotten Son to suffer, and redeem us with his life. Great are you Father, and we pray that you will help us to be more like you with each passing day. Lift us up from the waters Lord and acknowledge us as being pleasing to you. You are merciful, and full of grace Lord, and we call you Abba, Father, because you discipline us fairly and tenderly as your children. We pray now, and throughout our days that you will be pleased with us, and judge us worthy when we stand before you with Jesus. Smile upon us, and seat us in your presence, at your family table, forevermore.
Rich Forbes