Psalm 103:1
“Come on, let’s everybody stand…put your hands together and let’s clap and sing to glory! …Let’s worship the Lord. Everybody just clap their hands and let’s praise God…you might not have them tomorrow…you might have a wreck on the way home and have them cut off and you might never get to clap your hands for God anymore. Let’s clap our hands and make a joyful noise unto the Lord!”
This was a cry from the Reverend Joe M. Miles of Scott Assembly of God, and what followed was a revival that burst through the city of Knoxville, Tennessee.
What began as a usual worship encouragement griped people’s hearts, and they really began to worship, with ALL their hearts. How often do we worship, but not with ALL of our hearts? How often do we sing in Church, but in the back of our mind we are remembering that we have a roast in the oven, or that the football game is starting soon? How often do we present our offering out of routine rather than remembering that it is also a form of worship? How often are we reading the bulletin, newsletter, Sunday School papers, or something else when the Pastor is preaching?
Every part of our Church Service is provided to help us focus on the object of our worship, Jesus Christ! All the parts of our services are worthy of our FULL attention. All the parts are where God IS. In John 4 Jesus tells the woman at the well that “the true worshipers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth; for the Father seeketh such to worship him.” Can we be worshiping in “spirit and in truth” if our attention is not in it? When asked what the greatest principle in the law was, Jesus told the Pharisees “You shall love the Lord your God with ALL your heart and with ALL your soul and with ALL your mind” (Mt. 22:37, emphasis mine)
A phrase I learned in the 12 Step Recovery process is “half measures avail us nothing!” God is calling us to FULLNESS with Him. Do you hear the call?
