What is the result of God's saving work on behalf of His
people? Worship. When we pray the Lord's prayer we begin with,
"Our Father, who is in heaven."
Those words should call us also to remember and praise Him for the
reality that though He is in heaven, He is not aloof and distant, He also took
on flesh and dwelt among us for the purpose of saving us from death, that we might
have eternity in His presence. There is
a fourfold response to the goodness of God, "Give thanks to the Lord, call
upon his name, make known his deeds among the peoples,
proclaim that his name is exalted." We are to give thanks for what He has done, call upon Him in trouble, pray to Him, make known not only that He is but what He has done, His deeds, and worship, proclaim that His Name is exalted. The simplest, most concise description of the Christian life you will see.
proclaim that his name is exalted." We are to give thanks for what He has done, call upon Him in trouble, pray to Him, make known not only that He is but what He has done, His deeds, and worship, proclaim that His Name is exalted. The simplest, most concise description of the Christian life you will see.
Believing in Jesus frees up the reservoir of living water
from our hearts. The water flows upward
and outward. It flows up to God in
praise and worship and out to the world in proclamation of Him. When we live without faith and without
eternal hope, we keep all that within ourselves, we live either self-centered
lives of materialism or outwardly directed lives of altruism that ultimately
despises those who do not share our commitment. If our first movement is not vertical then
we love one another wrongly and badly.
Our reaching outward to others is in love that gives eternal hope, not
simply charity to make it through this life.
We do all for the love of God.
Why not make that a New Year's resolution, to love God so much that you
offer your life to simply praise and proclaim Him?
John says three things about Jesus. He is the faithful witness, He is the
firstborn from the dead and He is the ruler of all kings of earth. The work He has done is to free us from sins
by His blood. The result of that work is
to make us a kingdom of priests to His God.
He is coming again and all tribes of earth will wail in that day on
account of Him. We are to be a tribe of
our own, a kingdom whose king is Jesus, and we are priests to the Lord God who
was and is and is to come. Let us take
seriously our role as priests, proclaiming Him, worshipping Him and serving Him
alone in 2013. Let the world see us as
different, let us commit ourselves to that call on each of us to be His priests
this year.
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