God In All- Worship.

God- Thy Will Be Done.

Thoughts on a quote- continued…

"I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven." — Whatever Happened to Worship? A.W. Tozer

We talked about a bit about boredom and being turned off by worship yesterday. Now let's say what that is really talking about. Bored with God? Turned off by God? Boredom is finding something uninteresting, right? I can be watching a tv show and find it completely boring. It's just not interesting. I could start reading a book and find it terribly boring. It just drags on and on and the plot is stale without any excitement or any hooks that make me want to know what comes next- it is boring! I could be stuck in a conversation with someone who is droning on and on about a subject I don't want to hear about at all, in fact, if I never heard about this subject my entire life I'd be fine, yet there I am, stuck and completely bored with what is being said. My time is being wasted on these boring things, so why bother? Sometimes in life, you endure boredom for other's sake, right? Sometimes you endure things that repulse you because you want to please someone else. How many people go to operas with spouses but are truly repulsed by opera singing? We choose to let these things go on in our lives because we care about the happiness of another, and they want us to take part in their interests. Being bored, wasting time that could be spent doing things that interest you, it's all a part of life really. It takes a very callous person who will not put up with any boredom for the sake of a situation involving other's feelings. Or maybe you put up with the completely boring, and repulsive seminar you are taking because you need to keep your job- it happens.

Having said ALL that, if you meet a person and they completely and utterly bore you, and possibly repulse you- then you are not going to seek the company of that person again if you can help it. How many first dates end up being the last dates because of these reasons? LOTS.

With worship- the honoring of our God- the recognition of God's supremacy in our lives in all things- if we are repulsed by this, or bored with this- then we most certainly have a very big problem is we are hoping to live eternally with God.

Eternal life, the Gospel preached by Jesus during His three-year ministry- all the time, without a single day going by without its mention, is supposed to occupy our lives to the utmost! God and eternal life, salvation from our eternal death sentence through Jesus' Christ's sacrifice these are ALL about our hope of belonging wholly to God and living with Him forever. You cannot have a hope for true eternal life without a love for God, a love for worshiping Him.

IF you think you love God or really believe you love God and yet you do NOT want to spend time with GOD now, what makes you think you'll want to spend eternity with Him?

How completely silly would it be for a person to want to marry someone they do not want to be around? (Sure there are nefarious reasons for wanting to do that, but not reasons of love.)

Did you work today? Did you earn money today? Did you spend money on something you really wanted today? Did you look upon anything you own with love today? Did you get pleasure from something around you today? While all those things are okay in and of themselves, ask yourself if you worked, or spent time and energy on worshiping God, on laying up for yourself treasures in heaven. Where are treasures are- that's where our hearts are, the Bible tells us this. Are you ever really bored with your treasures? Before you say, yes, that's why you move on to other treasures, I'm talking about current treasure whatever it may be or a treasure you are in the process of acquiring newly. The question is about something you treasure- because clearly, any treasure which loses your favor instantly is no longer a treasure to you.

We aren't repulsed by things we treasure, we aren't bored with things we treasure (I'm talking TRUE treasure here). If we are bored with heaven treasures- they aren't treasures to us at all.

Our treasures are supposed to ALL be of the heavenly- where nothing can corrupt them, rot them, ruin them, take them, destroy them.

When we put our hearts into earth treasures we are in danger of losing those treasures all the time. Our hearts should be in heavenly treasures safe and secure in our God. Everything on earth we are in danger of treasuring should be given first and foremost to God for His will, recognizing that no matter what happens to the things of earth, God is in control.

People think it foolish when we trust in God or say something is God's will when it's a very bad something. We aren't saying God enjoys the suffering, we are saying God allows the suffering for reasons we cannot begin to understand- but we are going to trust that He is always and forever in control- no matter what. One day all things will be revealed that need to be revealed to us and we'll understand.

Paul suffered unimaginable tortures throughout his life and he counted them joy. All life's pleasures meant nothing to Paul if He couldn't worship God in them.

Worshiping God in all our lives. I heard this term- 'thought prayers' and I like it so I'm going to use it. We can have a million thought prayers throughout our days- thoughts brought to God about all we do, in all our activities- work, pleasure it doesn’t matter. God can be in all we do!

If you say God can't be with you when you are doing something you know God wouldn't approve of, yet you are compelled for reasons to continue with that something- then you're wrong. God can be with you. Holdfast to God through it all! God will open a way for circumstances to change if they are needed to be changed, just do not ever give up on God, not ever.

God in all we do. Heaven isn't our getting into a ritzy resort and being left to our own devices. Heaven is God, heaven is our Savior, heaven is a life filled with the selfless love we can scarcely comprehend. No one who shuns God, who shuns living a life of worship to God truly wants heaven.

May we never be bored or repulsed by worshiping God, never!

All through the love, the mercy, the will of our Savior, by the grace of Jesus Christ our LORD now and forever!!!!!!!

Amen.