VIRTUES OF THE CROSS 3B – (UNDERSTANDING WORSHIP II)

We had earlier established that God gave us oil as a type of the Holy Spirit. We also confirmed the beautiful aroma of frankincense as one of the symbols of worship. 

Exo. 40:31-38, “And Moses and Aaron and his sons washed their hands and their feet thereat: when they went into the  tent of the congregation, and when they came near unto the altar, they washed; as the LORD commanded Moses. and he reared up the court round about the tabernacle and the altar, and set up the handing of the court gate. So Moses finished the work. Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And Moses was not able to enter into the tent of the congregation, because the cloud abode thereon, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. And when the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the children of Israel went onward in all their journeys: But if the cloud were not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day that it was taken up. For the cloud of the LORD was upon the tabernacle by day, and fire was on it by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout all their journeys”.

We are supposed to be carriers of the presence of God. One of the things that worship does is that it brings down the glory. The tabernacle of the glory of God is what we need. We are not designed to walk through this life without the presence of God. If you want to walk successfully, you must have the glory cloud by day and glory fire by night. The fire is meant to keep the wild beasts away and cloud to keep the wilderness heat at bay. 

Gen. 24:26, “And the man bowed down his head, and worshipped the LORD”. Every word that denotes worship in the Bible begins with a posture of the body. You don’t worship God anyhow. You worship God with the totality of your being – your body, soul, spirit, mind, will, emotion, initiative, personality, everything. Reverence will force you to change the way you appear before God. You don’t stroll into the presence of God anyhow and stroll out like some Pentecostals do today. If as a father, your child strolls into your room with hands in his pocket and starts making a demand, how would you feel?

The rector of the theological seminary I attended told us the story of a man who sent his son to the United States of America to study. Eventually when his son returned after some years, the man went to the airport with his family to welcome him but to their greatest surprise instead of seeing a well-dressed and well-mannered person, the person they saw had two different colours of hair dye on his head, with earrings and ragged jeans. While the man was still looking out for his son, this person walked down and greeted his dad, “hi dude”. That was the climax! May we not invest wastefully in the name of Jesus. Our investments in the lives of our children will never be a waste in the powerful name of Jesus.

Just think about that man. There are so many Christians like this boy today who think that God has become an errand boy who they can talk to anyhow, approach anyhow and begin to make demands on. Where is the worship? If you don’t have honour, you cannot worship; worship starts with honour, worship starts with devotion. Worship starts with reverence (as opposed to respect). You respect your friends but you honour your parents. Respect is horizontal. Honour is vertical.

There are so many things that Africans do that are not very correct but when it comes to the issue of honoring parents in the African culture, it is consistent with the Bible. Honor is the seed for longevity. You cannot be a spiritual worshipper if you don’t understand honor. If you cannot honor your earthly parents whom you relate with regularly, how can you worship a Father that you cannot see? If you cannot honor a father you can see how can you worship a God you cannot see? 

ACTION POINT

• Kneel down before the almighty God and worship Him. Give Him praise. Adore Him. Acknowledge His faithfulness in every facet of your life. Worship Him for who He is, and thank Him for what He has done for you.

TO BE CONTINUED……