Worship God at All Times; Revelation 17-19

May the mumbling commence!

Worship is important.  It is essential to worship properly.  Worshiping properly is a focus of the letter of Revelation.  Read from chapter nineteen:

Then the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures prostrated themselves and worshipped God who is seated upon the throne, saying, "Amen, alleluia!"

Then out of the throne came a voice, saying, "Praise our God, all you who serve him, all you who reverence him, both small and great!"

And then I heard a sound like the voices of a vast crowd, the roar of a great waterfall and the rolling of heavy thunder, and they were saying, "Alleluia! For the Lord our God, the Almighty, has come into his kingdom! Let us rejoice, let us be glad with all our hearts. Let us give him the glory, for the wedding-day of the Lamb has come, and his bride has made herself ready. She may be seen dressed in linen, gleaming and spotless – for such linen is the righteous living of the saints!"

Then he said to me, "Write this down: Happy are those who are invited to the wedding-feast of the Lamb!" Then he added, "These are true words of God."

At that I fell at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, "No! I am your fellow-servant and fellow-servant with your brothers who are holding fast their witness to Jesus. Give your worship to God!" (This witness to Jesus inspires all prophecy.) (Verses 4-10)

Worship is celebration.  Alleluia – praise the Lord!  Rejoice and be glad in all our hearts.  Give God the glory.  Serve God.  Reverence the Almighty One.  Join the chorus of thanksgiving and praise that resounds throughout the entire creation.

But please note: we are to give our worship only to God.  In case we missed that point of emphasis, we have the interchange between the writer and the angel.  Do not worship your fellow servants.  Hold fast to our witness of Christ Jesus.  Give worship only to God.

How upbeat!  How ironic in the midst of one of the worst natural disasters to hit one of the United States most populated areas!  How can God be in the devastation and lost lives?  We beat our breasts and ask: Where were you, O God, when Tropical Storm Sandy hit the east coast?  Where were you, O Lord of heaven and earth, when the northeaster combined forces with Sandy?

All these honest and faithful wonderings lead us back to the other emphasis of the letter of Revelation.  Endure.  Though our world may seem to be unraveling before our very eyes, endure.  We have a greater hope than the richest and most decadent Babylon’s of all time.

We have hope in the coming kingdom of God.  So let us worship God!

Enough mumbling for now…

Peace Out