Jaw-dropping Jewels about Jesus
Rarely does Jesus, God the Son, do exactly what we expect of Him. It seems odd that He so frequently surprises us, given that He never changes. Hebrews 13:8 makes this absolute statement: “Jesus the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” Still, though He is blessedly consistent in His goodness, Jesus does unforeseen things. Even when He does what is expected, He does not always do it in the way that we anticipate. Let us join with Jesus on a jaw-dropping journey. (I will be using this opening paragraph for each of the brief messages in this series. The following material will change daily.)
Revelation 15:3-4 speaks of music in heaven: “And they sing the song of Moses the servant of God, and the song of the Lamb, saying, ‘Great and marvellous are Thy works, Lord God Almighty; just and true are Thy ways, Thou King of saints. Who shall not fear Thee, O Lord, and glorify Thy name? For Thou only art holy: for all nations shall come and worship before Thee; for Thy judgments are made manifest.’” This concise primer of praise focuses us on the content of true worship. We naturally and easily think about ourselves often: we have legitimate things to do, and we need to plan our time and energy accordingly. It is a temptation to take that necessary and practical attention to everyday life and shift it to worship. Quickly, our worship can become man-centered and thus utterly inadequate. A pastor friend of mine, a truly fine man of God and an extraordinary Bible expositor, once lamented that during his lengthy ministry a number of people had abandoned worship because, as they put it, they were not being “fed.” These benighted folks did not understand that worship is not for getting; rather, it is for giving. In giving appropriate worship to our Savior God, we are encouraging others to do the same; and, because God is so good, we will be fed spiritually in so doing. If we approach worship with an attitude of “What will I get out of this?” – and that is a common modern concept – we will fail to worship. Lord, deliver us from this sin of self-centeredness, especially as it pertains to our worship of You.