With All My Heart...

I suppose it's easy to be enthusiastic about Jesus. Let's just be honest. He's amazing. But this is the time when God is looking for worshipers. He's not looking for enthusiasts, He's looking for worshipers.

John 4:23 (NIV) says:

Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks.

I love this verse. I love it. It speaks of the passion of now and of a time yet unseen when people will arise to pour out adoration on an awesome God. It also says that God seeks people that will do just this. A holy God is looking for people like you and I. He's looking for us to stand up and to cast off those sins that easily trouble us. He's looking for people that will be kingdom minded. That will put aside their own agendas to take care of His agendas. Now, moving beyond being an enthusiast is no easy task. It takes sacrifice and denial. Romans 12:1 (NIV) says:

Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.

Here, the wonderful Word of God tells us to offer our bodies -while still alive- as a sacrifice. We are urged to live lives that are holy and pleasing to God. The very word "sacrifice" denotes a form of slaughter. In this case, we are to slaughter our sinful nature without looking back. It has to be brutal and it has to be full. There's no half-stepping here. And the verse goes on to say that this is our act of worship. Worship isn't in the songs that we sing or the words that we say. Its not in our works or achievements. It is in our sacrifice. Enthusiasts do not sacrifice. They cheer. They jump. They shout. They may even sing. They do not sacrifice. The sacrifice is reserved for worshipers.

I think that this is the season to make up our minds. It's time for the true worshipers to arise and to cross that line that divides worship and enthusiasm. My prayer is that God will build passion for His person and His cause within us all. That with the help of the Holy Spirit, we will come to the conclusion that this journey with our Master is all or nothing. I pray that we will choose all rather than nothing. I pray that God will make us worshipers.