In the Old Testament, the people intermittently worshiped
and served God. They easily strayed from being single-minded into worshiping
idols and serving them or themselves. One of the most telling narratives is
their decision to have a king. They pressed the prophet Samuel until he
appointed Saul to rule over them. However, he repeatedly told them this was
their folly . . .
“Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘I brought up Israel out of Egypt, and I delivered you from the hand of the Egyptians and from the hand of all the kingdoms that were oppressing you.’ But today you have rejected your God, who saves you from all your calamities and your distresses, and you have said to him, ‘Set a king over us’ . . .” (1 Samuel 10:18–19)
This rejection of God to serve a king takes an interesting
twist in the New Testament. When the devil tested Jesus, “he took him to a very
high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And
he said to him, ‘All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship
me.’” (Matthew 4:8–9) Today, the same test happens repeatedly. What will the
people of God worship?
Someone described worship as that which I think about and
honor the most. This is a convicting definition for I know how much I have
trusted myself, my ideas, my own judgment rather than seeking the will of God
and trusting Him and His Word. This is heighted by passages like this one:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the desires of the flesh and the desires of the eyes and pride of life—is not from the Father but is from the world.” (1 John 2:15–16)
Anytime I’ve put my own desires over God’s will, I’ve
ceased to worship Him. Anytime I’ve sought what makes me look good, or what
gives me reason to pat myself on the back, I’ve ceased to worship God. Jesus is
clear about that; I cannot love the things of the world and claim to love and
serve God. The two are incompatible. Further, the temptation of Christ shows where
that notion comes from:
Then Jesus said to him, “Be gone, Satan! For it is written, “‘You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.’” (Matthew 4:10)
The enemy of my soul tried to lure Jesus with ‘the things
of this world’ — and he will and has done the same to me.
In today’s devotional, Tozer says worship takes precedence
over work. That is, if my worship slides into things of the world, then what I
do for the Lord will be flawed. If I fall before the idol of self-rule, or
fleshy desires, or pride, or anything but the Spirit of God, then any service
will smack of me, myself and I at the very least. At the worst, it will be
demonic.
This is serious stuff. Jesus makes worship the root of
service. Worship of idols continually ruined Israel and put them into bondage.
Worship of the world and all its goodies continually puts Christians in danger and
in bondage. I’m not to value my comfort over exalting and glorifying God. I’m
not to value what I want or what makes me look good over the will of God — even
if His will puts me in the shadows or causes me to be misunderstood and
rejected. Worship means bowing before Him, who He is and what He desires. It is
never about me or what makes me feel good. It might even involve great sacrifice
— for that is where worship eventually led Jesus.
That the temptation comes from the devil (and not just my
self-centered mind) is helpful in wanting to combat it, but discomforting.
Instead of yielding to God, too often I’ve not resisted the devil — often because
I didn’t recognize who it was that was coming at me.
^^^^^^^
Jesus, You are my Savior. Over and over You have rescued
me from the clutches of the devil, even when I didn’t realize he had me in his
clutches. As I worship today, may You be the only focal point. If anything
threatens to push You off the throne of my heart, may I recognize and rebuke
the enemy of my soul.
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