On the long jaunt to Springfield every night for well, this whole summer, I have enjoyed listening to WLUJ which for the most part consists of nightly sermons. Recently, Dr. David Jeremiah has been speaking about true worship. One illustration he used really struck me. He spoke of a deacon that had died and gone to heaven. As the deacon stood before an angel, they both looked down upon a worship service on earth. The angel explained the events of the scene, however, the deacon was still confused. "Where is the volume? There is no audio. I see that they are singing, but I can't hear anything." The angel replied, "Oh yes, I forgot to tell you....Up here we only hear genuine, heart-felt worship. What you are witnessing is outward worship, but not worship of the heart. That is why you don't hear anything."
Ouch! I guess I had never really thought of my unfocused worship in that light before. God truly doesn't hear anything. If my heart is not right, and I am not truly focused on surrendering my all before his throne, he doesn't hear a single note. How often have I stood in his house, singing along with the praise band, but not truly meaning the words? How many times have a stood singing a song aloud trying to find a pretty harmony note instead of focusing on the One I am singing for? It doesn't matter how melodically pleasing I make those songs if my heart isn't in it. Just some food for thought...
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3 comments:
I dig the design. That's a good thought...what is meant to be worship seems to fall into too much of a "okay this is song time." Even I have been guilty of singing but not really worshipping. I'm not very good at this but I think we should do more to even prepare for worship at church...like just getting in the right mood and so forth. But that's just how I roll.
Hey! I didn't even know you knew I had a blog. I just got it the other day. Pretty exciting stuff. :) Thanks for the comment! You know, that is funny that you say that, because after I wrote that, I was thinking, "Man, I wish we just had a few minutes during or before service to really quietly focus ourselves internally." Then I realized that that is kinda what communion is for, I just don't use it sometimes, in the same way that I don't utilize "worship" properly. Also, I realize that where my heart is depends on me, but I guess sometimes (kinda like you said) I feel like the atmosphere of the Sunday morning service promotes :)the "song time" idea. Sometimes I just want to get rid of all the rigidity and just see what happens. Of course, that may be a little too crazy, but that is just the way I roll. Btw, I said that phrase to some Muni cast members the other day and they just died laughing. Honestly, I don't know as I have ever used it until the other day with you and Sheils, but I think I am gonna keep it going just because of the laughs that it sparks. :)
The phrase is a classic.
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