Woodworkers’
Journal is one of
those magazines that comes every month, full of elaborate plans for such things
as furniture making and toys. It’s fun to read, even though it’s very unlikely
I’ll ever craft a Shaker hutch. One of my favorites is a feature which gives
us a picture and short description of an antique tool. The readers are asked
if they can solve the mystery: “just what was this tool made for?” Intrinsic
in this is the concept that if you want to know what a thing is, you
need to know for what purpose it was designed.
The
flat fact of the matter is this: we were designed with a purpose, too. We
were designed to give pleasure to God
Please,
get out of your mind the idea that worship is simply the ceremony around the
preacher’s sermon. It’s not that at all. Properly understood, worship is that
which pleases God. Sometimes we do it in a formal manner, but mostly we do it
in the way we live.
We hear people describe someone as a “worshipful man.” Such a person is the one
who has discovered the secret: worship on Sunday and service throughout the
week are twins.
Twins?
We often use one word to describe twin things. For example, the noun
“marriage” can mean either the wedding ceremony or the life which follows it.
It is proper to speak of worship as being service; indeed, in the New
Testament, the same Greek word is translated into both.
The
Sunday worship is in fact a symbolic portrayal of what we do in service to God
during the week. Let’s take it point by point:
- Praise.
We praise God in song on Sunday; shouldn’t we praise him to others during
the week?
- Scripture reading. The Scripture is read aloud on Sunday; should we
not also read it during the week?
- Fellowship.
We meet our fellow Christians on Sunday; should we not also do the same
during the week?
- Offering.
We put our money into God’s kingdom on Sunday; should we not use the rest
during the week for his glory?
- Preaching.
We might think this the exclusive task of the preacher; but have you ever
had to give the reason for your faith?
- Communion.
In Communion we proclaim the death, burial and resurrection of Christ,
along with his soon return. Should we not tell others of this during the
week?
Integrity:
worship and service are the same thing. The man of integrity will see to it
that they are the same in his life.
If
your worship is to be pleasing to God, you must bear in mind the teaching of
the Lord: God desires those who will worship in spirit and in truth. The
style of the formal worship matters little; what you do with it matters much.
Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength. Then your
worship will be honest, authentic – and practical too, for you are a practical
person.
Practical?
Indeed. Another word for offering is sacrifice, and as you worship him you
will find that sacrifice comes quickly to those who love God.
The
God-Pleasing Lifestyle
So
then, just what does one do to please God? You’ll find a number of themes on
this throughout the Bible; here are a few:
- God
is pleased when you trust him completely.
- God
is pleased when you obey him wholeheartedly.
- God
is pleased when you thank him and praise him.
- God
is pleased when you use your abilities as working for him.
That
last deserves some elaboration. “Whatever you do, do it all to the glory of
God.” No matter the task before you, work at it as if God were expecting it
from you. It is a tremendous witness to others – and a blessing to yourself.
The
difficulty for most of us in doing this is that we feel we can’t be consistent
about it. Sinners all, we look at these requirements and react with, “Might
work for some monk in a monastery – but not for me.” The reason you feel this
way is simple: you have not surrendered completely to God. We are to
be a living sacrifice to God.
Remember
the rich young ruler? He was good; he was righteous in his time – but he could
not surrender all to Jesus. Surrender would have meant admitting his
limitations; instead, he trusted in his own abilities.
Surrender;
let God take over. I have a T-shirt with the following logo – “If God is your
copilot, SWITCH SEATS.” Live for the glory and pleasure of God. Like an
example? Here’s one from a monk that might interest you: it is his prayer in
time of sickness.
Oh
Lord, if it brings glory to your name to heal me quickly, heal me quickly.
If
it brings yet more glory to your name to heal me slowly, heal me slowly.
Should
it bring even more glory to your name that I should die quickly, let me die
quickly.
Should
it bring even greater glory to your name that I should die slowly, let me die
slowly.
Surrender
is such a blessing, the best way to live. After all, the person now in charge
has so much more experience than we do.
The
Friends of God
If
you will work at this, you will find that God becomes your best friend.
So how do you work at this?
- Through
constant conversational prayer. Prayer is not just for your bedtime.
Make God your silent partner in silent prayer.
- Through
times of meditation. We’re not talking about sitting around emptying your
head and chanting “om”. It is a time on intense thought with God. Think
with him; he will share his secrets with you.
- By
being honest with God. You can’t fool him, and it’s foolish to try.
- By
choosing to obey Him – in faith. No praise song of today could say it any
better than the old hymn – Trust and Obey.
- Value
what God values. Today we know the price of everything – and the value of
nothing. Take pleasure in the joys of his creation.
Above
all else, there is this: passionately desire to be the friend of God. Abraham
trusted him, obeyed him (to the point of sacrificing his only son) – and he was
known therefore as the friend of God.
When
God seems distant
You
should not walk away from this lesson with the idea that things will always be
rosy. For his own purposes, God may be silent with you. Here’s how Oswald
Chambers put it:
Has
God trusted you with a silence – a silence that is big with meaning? God’s
silences are his answers. Think of those days of absolute silence in the home
at Bethany! Is there anything analogous to those days in your life? Can God
trust you like that, or are you still asking for a visible answer? God will
give you the blessings you ask if you will not go any further without them; but
His silence is the sign that He is bringing you into a marvelous understanding
of Himself. Are you mourning before God because you have not had an audible
response? You will find that God has trusted you in the most intimate way
possible, with an absolute silence, not of despair, but of pleasure, because He
saw that you could stand a bigger revelation. If God has given you a silence,
praise Him, He is bringing you into the great run of his purposes. The
manifestation of the answer in time is a matter of God’s sovereignty. Time is
nothing to God. For a while you said – “I asked God to give me bread, and He
gave me a stone.” He did not, and today you will find He gave you the bread of
life.
A
wonderful thing about God’s silence is that the contagion of His stillness gets
into you and you become perfectly confident – “I know God has heard me.” His
silence is the proof He has. As long as you have the idea that God will bless
you in answer to prayer, He will do it, but He will never give you the grace of
silence. If Jesus Christ is bringing you into the understanding that prayer is
for the glorifying of His Father, He will give you the first sign of His
intimacy – silence.
The
first time you get the silent treatment, you may start thinking, “I was doing so
well! What was God angry about?” Remember that if your heart condemns you,
God is still stronger than your heart. So accept his silence; he is forging a
greater Christian – you.
What
to do in the meantime, while waiting?
- Tell
God how you feel. Yes, he knows – but it’s good to acknowledge the fact
that his silence disturbs you.
- Trust
Him. He said he will never fail you or forsake you – claim that promise
as your own.
- Remember
His works. Think of the things he has done in history; think of the things
he has done in your life. He has not changed; he is eternal.
Do
you remember learning how to ride a bicycle? Tricycle to training wheels,
there came a time when dad stopped holding up the bicycle – and by his absence
you knew that you had learned to ride. Is it strange that God, your Heavenly
Father, does the same for you?