Monday, May 14, 2007

why worship

Worship. Here's why it matters: God made you, to enjoy you.

(Revelation 4:11 NLT) “You are worthy, O Lord our God, to receive glory and honor and power. For you created everything, and it is for your pleasure that they exist and were created.”

Recently I thought of it in this context. You see, some of our biggest projects around Faith Church involves kids. Investing in a new generation is one of our written cultural values. We're gearing up for another massive VBS next month.

Why? Why do we invest so much time and energy and money? Why do we have hundreds of volunteers? It’s because our kids bring us pleasure.

Last week, my kids were watching Scooby Doo on TV. I went in and I sat on the couch to watch Shaggy, Scooby and the gang. Why? Because I wanted to watch those “meddling kids” solve another caper with the mystery van? No…some of the shows my kids watch make my head hurt, they’re so boring.

But I’ve found that IF I’ll sit down really close to them… occasionally they’ll cuddle up to me and start lovin’ on their Daddy.

How does it make you feel to have a child look up into your eyes and say, “Daddy, I love you”? It makes all the other parenting crap worth while. All the fights, and hassles, and pains and frustrations that go along with having those rugrats are all worthwhile… just to hear them say I love you.

And listen, that’s WHY God created us. To have that kind of relationship with Him. In (Matthew 22:37), one time Jesus was asked, “What is the most important thing to do in this life?” “Jesus replied, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment.” That’s the answer to the question “Why am I here?”

In fact, when it comes to expressing our love for God, there is a word that we use. We call it WORSHIP. Worship is BOTH expressing our love for God AND also, living a life that makes God proud. It's more than music. It is a daily and moment-by-moment expression of your being...constantly connecting with God in thoughts, words and actions.

I want Him to be proud of me.