Good morning. May your worship today be from the depth of your heart, worshipping in Spirit and in Truth.
Our Wednesday evening adult study is using a video series and book from Dr. Tony Evans called Kingdom Heroes. In this past week’s lesson, Dr. Evans shared thoughts about Cain and Abel and the topic of worship. Abel is listed in Hebrews 11:4 as one of our heroes of faith for his record of godly worship, as described in Genesis chapter 4. Dr. Evans shared intriguing ideas about worship, some of which I would like to include in this thought for a worship day.
He begins by describing his family touring some of the “sets” that are built for TV shows and movies. When you drive past them you would think you are looking at a genuine neighborhood, or perhaps a community from the old west. In reality, they are nothing more than a façade, created to look genuine from the outside but in truth, they are nothing more than empty shells. Dr. Evans then states that this could be true for many churches in our culture as they gather on Sundays for worship. The masks are in place, everything looks and sounds OK, but the reality is more of an empty shell than an example of heart-felt and genuine worship.
Dr. Evans also talked about things that are not, and will never be, true of God. God will not lie; God will not sin; God will never deny or contradict the reality of His nature. Dr. Evans then tells us that another thing that is true of God is that He refuses to be second place or second best. God is first; He is preeminent; He is demanding of that premier place in our hearts and minds. To give God any less than our best, the first fruits of our labors, the first priority for our time and resources is to deny Him and to insult Him. A few of the scriptures that share this truth include Matthew 6:33 “But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” Exodus 20:3 “You shall have no other gods before me.” Proverbs 3:9-10 “Honor the Lord with your wealth and with the firstfruits of all your produce; then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will be bursting with wine.”
God’s expectation, and it isn’t a stretch to say that it is His demand, is that He holds that #1 – first place in our hearts when we identify ourselves as His children. Dr. Evans used what I thought was a great illustration for this point: “Imagine that you go to a nice restaurant, you order what you would like from the menu, and what your waiter or waitress brings you…is leftovers. You wouldn’t stand for it! How dare they! Well, how often are we giving God what is “leftover” from our time, our talents, and our resources? Is there anyway we can justify such thoughts and actions when we call our selves by the Name of the Son of God? No, there isn’t.
Worship is so vital to our living a proper and victorious Christian life that it is no surprise that God begins the list of examples of the heroes of faith with Able, who is an example of righteous worship. The nature of the problem that is identified in Genesis 4 is that both of these sons of Adam and Eve have grown up in the same family; they have grown up experiencing the same worship of God, and they have grown up with an understanding of what God desires and demands from them in worship. Able is righteous in his worship. He brings to God a fitting offering, a sacrifice of the best portions (the fatty portions) from the firstborn of his flock of lambs. It is a blood sacrifice and offering which recognizes his sin and his need for God to forgive and to purify him. Cain, however, does not act righteously. He gives to God what he has deemed to be sufficient, not what God has instructed to be given. In Cain’s offering, there is no acknowledgement of sin or the need for forgiveness. His offering and his worship, are denied, and in his rage he commits the greater sin by murdering his brother.
Able is our example. Hebrews says that he continues to speak to us today through his example of righteous worship. Our worship must be offered up to God in accordance with His desires. It is completely inappropriate to fashion our worship in accordance with our own desires, putting our will ahead of the need to honor and respect our gracious and loving God in genuine worship. Dr. Evans said that this is a case of worship being the product of reason rather than revelation. Worship is not to be what we feel is reasonable for ourselves. Worship is to be what God has revealed to us that it should be, always lifted up to His glory.
Worship well today, and please consider some of these thoughts about worship that please our Father God.
Vern