One of the things that never cease to surprise me is the passion some people have for a certain cause. There are some people who are passionate about animal welfare. There are others who are passionate about ‘pro-life.’ There are other people who are passionate about Christian education. There are people who are passionate about justice issues. There are some who are passionate about missions. And dare I mention that there are others who are passionate about their sporting code or particular team.
Now some of these things are good to be passionate about and even have good biblical foundation (Jonah 4:11; Exo 20:13; Duet 6:4ff; Eph 6:1-4; Mic 6:6-8; Mat 28:18ff, etc). But the question that often remains unanswered is why people aren’t passionate about worshiping their God and Saviour Jesus Christ? I dare say that if people showed the same amount of passion for the Lord and the worship of His name as they do for their particular cause, then we would truly become a light in this world and our churches would be full on Sundays.
Rev. Dr John Piper in his book, “Let the nations be glad”, makes the comment that missions is not the ultimate goal of the church but worship is. The same can be said of all the things people are passionate about above. One day, the slaughter of helpless animals will end; the murder of innocent lives will end; no longer will there be injustice; and yes, even our sporting teams will be no more. However, the worship of our glorious Saviour will never end, to the glory of God the Father (Phil.2:9-11; Rev.4:8ff, 5; 9ff).
So since the praise of Him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb is the goal of history, surely we need to also be passionate about that now. If Jesus is going to be our ‘all’ for eternity, then why should He not be so already?
Since Jesus primarily feeds his people by His word, then we would want to be where it is expounded which generally means at a worship service or a Bible Study. If we can have a closer relationship with Jesus through prayer, then we would wish to be engaged in that unceasingly, with thanksgiving.
If His law is the very best guide for our lives now, surely we would be wanting to obey it as best we can. Since Jesus is the Great Shepherd, surely our desire would be to lie down in His shadow, where we know we will be kept safe from marauding animals. Since Jesus is the fountain of all good, surely we would want to quench our thirst from Him. Since Jesus has secured rest for our souls through His death and resurrection, then surely we would want to rest in His grace and completed work. Since Jesus has promised that nothing in all creation can separate us from His love, then surely we would want desire no one’s protection but His alone. And yes, since it is true that we are often weak and feeble in faith and prone to fall, it’s for this very reason we desire to stay close to Jesus, and feed on Him daily for our strength.
Why should we turn away from worshipping our Saviour God? There is no reason why we should and probably a thousand reasons why we should not. Indeed, that is why the seventh day was set-aside in the Old Testament and we set-aside the first day of the week, resurrection Sunday, as a day of worship to our God and King today.
By all means, be passionate about your various causes, especially those that have good biblical foundation, but do not lose perspective. One day all things will end, but the worship of our glorious Saviour will never end. Hence, we plan to worship, yes every day, but particularly in the company of the Lord’s gathered people, encouraging one another – and all the more as we see the Day approaching (Heb 10:25).
(Our bulletin blog this week is written by John Zuidema, Minister of CRC Dee Why)