The Cost of Worship

"I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God that cost me nothing."  2 Samuel 24:24

As read this verse this morning, a question popped into my mind -- What is my worship costing me?  That question was quickly followed by another one -- What sacrifices am I bringing to God?  David did not want his worship to be without cost, sacrifice or meaning.  He was vested in his worship to God.  It has been my experience that when we have something vested in our worship it becomes meaningful.  We have missed this.  I have missed this.  Worship has become too comfortable.  It has no meaning because it does not cost us anything.  There is no sacrifice involved in our worship.  Some would say that it does cost time, but what is time?  For the average Christian, worship has become what they do on a Sunday morning.  It is not a part of their daily life.  What has happen is we have relegated worship to a compartment in our life.  Worship goes alongside the God compartment and the church compartment.  It is another part of our life but it is not our life.  When we do this, we suck the life out of worship and quench the Holy Spirit.  Because we are unwilling to give all of ourselves to God through worship, we suffer in our intimacy with our Savior.  We have reduce worship to a feeling or a style as opposed to a response to the movement of the Holy Spirit.

A Snow Day Reflection

I've been able to sit and watch the snow fall all day, so far, through by office window. It's been relaxing to say the least. As the minutes have passed by, I've seen the snow get deeper and deeper in my backyard (which is right outside of my office window). There was a magnificient white blanket spread over our yard. It was perfect, undisturbed, flawless, even picturesque. After lunch, the three little boys from down the street came over since they got out of school early for the snow day. Needless to say...when five little boys start playing with their toys the picturesque, flawless blanket of snow goes away...and fast. They run and scream, throw snowballs, make snow angels all in the name of fun. Some would make them go somewhere else to have their fun so that the beauty is undisturbed. Not so with me. I love to hear them as they play outside, not a care in the world. They are enjoying themselves. When did we get so old that we don't enjoy ourselves anymore? How often does it do this in here, snow that is. I had a blast over the lunch hour building a snowman with my boys in the front yard. Fun! Say it with me...FUN! It is probably the one thing that lacks in many of our lives. Are we so dignified that we can no longer enjoy ourselves? Are we so mature that we can't go out and make snow angels too? This is the only today that we have. A couple of years ago I made this statement: Today's a new day, make the most of it. I'm not sure if I came up with that or if I heard it somewhere, but I'm taking credit for it. How are you going to make the most of today? Is it enough to just enjoy the picturesque scenery of a fresh snow? For some of you the answer is yes, and that's okay. But what does your inner child say? SNOW!! It's time to start enjoying life and living it to the fullest. Isnt' that what Jesus said when He said He gives us life abundantly? The short answer is YES! Get out there and play in the snow. Enjoy it! You never know when it's gonna snow this way again.

The Delicate Balance

I have spent today on the two extremes of human existence. This morning I spent time with a young couple who celebrated the birth of their first son. I was great to see the joy through their exhaustion. How exciting to hold that hours old little child. How reassuring to look into that baby's face so full of innocence. How promising to know that child's mom and dad will be raising him in the ways of the Lord. There is much promise at the beginning of life. Life, truly has yet to be lived at that point. I spent the afternoon with a mom and dad who were mourning the loss of their adult son. A life that ended too soon. A life that was getting on track again. A life that was lived full of joy and wonder. A life that had begun to touch people with a simple message of faith. A life that was now over. I found myself sharing the same thing to each set of parents: God's grace is sufficient. To the parents of the baby, there is so much they do not know and have yet to learn, yet God's grace is sufficient. To the parents who lost a son much too soon, God's grace is sufficient. In all things God is enough. He meets each need. He celebrates with us in our times of joy and mourns with us in our times of sorrow. God's grace is sufficient. Life is lived in a delicate balance between life and death. We do not dictate when our lives begin or when they end. Those two things are far beyond our control, but we can know the one who controls such things. God's grace is sufficient. God's grace is enough to comfort us in what we do not know and to comfort us when we do not have tears left to shed. God's grace is enough when we shed tears of joy and tears of sorrow. God's grace is enough! God's grace is enough! God's grace is enough!

An Upside Down Kingdom Principle

We must follow Jesus in His death so that we can follow Him in His life (from John 12:24-26).