May the mumbling commence!
What does it mean to worship God? What does worshiping God look like? Read the story of Cain and Abel below from Genesis chapter four:
When they grew up, Abel became a shepherd, while Cain was a farmer. At harvest-time Cain brought to the Lord a gift of his farm produce, while Abel brought several choice lambs from the best of his flock. The Lord accepted Abel and his offering, but he did not accept Cain and his offering. This made Cain very angry and dejected.
"Why are you so angry?" the Lord asked him. "Why do you look so dejected? You will be accepted if you respond in the right way. But if you refuse to respond correctly, then watch out! Sin is waiting to attack and destroy you, and you must subdue it."
Later Cain suggested to his brother, Abel, "Let's go out into the fields." And while they were there, Cain attacked and killed his brother.
Afterward the Lord asked Cain, "Where is your brother? Where is Abel?"
"I don't know!" Cain retorted. "Am I supposed to keep track of him wherever he goes?"
But the Lord said, "What have you done? Listen – your brother's blood cries out to me from the ground! You are hereby banished from the ground you have defiled with your brother's blood. No longer will it yield abundant crops for you, no matter how hard you work! From now on you will be a homeless fugitive on the earth, constantly wandering from place to place."
Cain replied to the Lord, "My punishment is too great for me to bear! You have banished me from my land and from your presence; you have made me a wandering fugitive. All who see me will try to kill me!"
The Lord replied, "They will not kill you, for I will give seven times your punishment to anyone who does." Then the Lord put a mark on Cain to warn anyone who might try to kill him. So Cain left the Lord's presence and settled in the land of Nod, east of Eden. (Verses 2b-16)
When we give to the Lord, we do not just give some of our excess. We give of our very best. It is our way of honoring God. Giving of our best is the way of responding to God’s extravagant giving to us. It is the way of inspiring others to give their best without thinking they are in competition with other children of God.
Worship of God is a giving of our very best to the Lord. And a part of that giving includes our very beings. Perhaps it is this gift to God – the gift of ourselves – that is mentioned for the first time at the end of Genesis chapter four:
Adam slept with his wife again, and she gave birth to another son. She named him Seth, for she said, "God has granted me another son in place of Abel, the one Cain killed." When Seth grew up, he had a son and named him Enosh. It was during his lifetime that people first began to worship the Lord. (Verses 25-26)
Indeed, it is the relationship that our parents and grandparents had with God that often inspires us to worship God in increasingly exciting ways. To come to worship for our own agenda will lead us astray – just like King Herod of old. Read from Matthew chapter two:
Then Herod sent a private message to the wise men, asking them to come see him. At this meeting he learned the exact time when they first saw the star. Then he told them, "Go to Bethlehem and search carefully for the child. And when you find him, come back and tell me so that I can go and worship him, too!" (Verses 7-8)
Herod had no inclination to actually worship the new king. His real plans were to destroy the new king as it comes out later in Matthew chapter two:
Herod was furious when he learned that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, because the wise men had told him the star first appeared to them about two years earlier. Herod's brutal action fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah:
"A cry of anguish is heard in Ramah –
weeping and mourning unrestrained.
Rachel weeps for her children,
refusing to be comforted –
for they are dead." (Verses 16-18)
Let us worship God with our best to honor His Name… Ha Shem.
Enough mumbling for now…
Peace Out
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