Exodus 8:1 - Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"
I think God is serious about our worshiping him. In Exodus, chapters 8-10 alone, God speaks seven times through Moses to tell Pharaoh, "This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me." In essence, God is emphasizing to us that all of his work is ultimately for two things: 1) to shape us in the original, perfect creation where we loved to worship God and 2) to set people free both from Pharaoh long ago and also from all the other distractions today so we love to worship God.
When God sent Jesus to die for us and set us free from the power of sin (which is guilt) and the power of death (which is fear), he might as well have said to guilt and fear, as in today's Bible verse, "Let my people go, so that they may worship me." (Exodus 8:1)
What is keeping you from worshiping God at least once a week? I know we like humor with this "Day of Praise" devotion, but a strong, successful businessman came up to me in tears this Sunday and confessed that God had shown him how ultimately worthless was the "everybody-does-it" distraction that was keeping him from worshiping God at least weekly.
And here's another worship testimony from another person recently:
"I didn't realize just how much I missed Wednesday night. The meeting, the fellowship, the study, the worship and message, the training, and then more fellowship -- God was with us and he is alive and showing his glory at [our church]. We just have to be there to experience what he is doing. I know God is with us in our everyday life, however, when we are at home, ball field, lake, movies, etc, our focus is not on Him, we get distracted from His glory. When we are with like-minded people, worshiping and studying his word, he blesses us abundantly, changing our mindset. The words tonight were from God and just what we needed to hear."
Friends, we were made to love to praise and worship the Lord, and God has blessings waiting for us when we do. So whether you worship together in a hotel room, or you visit a church where you're vacationing, or you go to your home church, please remember that you are free to do as you please because God set you free in Christ. But I pray that you'll follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and you'll use your freedom as God calls us to, namely, to worship and praise God, and in so doing, to receive immeasurable blessings from God!
Exodus 8:1 - Then the Lord said to Moses, "Go to Pharaoh and say to him, 'This is what the Lord says: Let my people go, so that they may worship me.'"
Praise God!
Pastor Chris
"The gospel is the story of Jesus [what God's only Son has done for us that we can't do for ourselves], spoken as a promise." - Robert Jenson
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