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Written by Administrator
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Jun 08, 2007 at 02:57 PM |
Hi Everyone,
I'm currently studying a book called "Desiring God" by John Piper. Last Saturday, just before the service, I came across a quote from C. S. Lewis that so moved me that I shared it immediately in the service and have been thinking about it all week. C. S. Lewis wrote, "all enjoyment spontaneously overflows into praise..." He goes on to write, "The world rings with praise --- lovers praising their mistresses, readers their favorite poet, walkers praising the countryside, players praising their favorite game.... I think we delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation."
I've been thinking about these words over and over again. They've caused me to ask myself some questions. "Do I praise God out of my enjoyment of who He is and the relationship we share together? Is my praise an act of completion motivated by how much enjoyment I receive from my relationship with Him? Or is my praise motivated by a desire to experience joy, so I praise Him in the hope that I will then experience Him and the enjoyment He brings?" Answering yes to the first two questions means that God is the object of and the motivation for my praise. Answering yes to the last question means that I am the object of my praise and my needs are the motivation for my praise. I am doing it so I can experience something. I am not doing it because I have already experienced something and am responding to it.
This change of emphasis may seem insignificant, but the implications are immense. I let you think about the differences. Here are some questions you may want to think about?
- Do I enjoy God, really enjoy Him? Do I enjoy Him often? Have I enjoyed Him today?
- When I want to experience enjoyment, do I immediately think of spending time with God, or do I get the majority of my enjoyment elsewhere?
- Does my praise come out of my enjoyment of Him or am I trying to use praise to stir up enjoyment in Him?
- Do I love the things I enjoy, and do I enjoy the things I love? Shouldn't the same be true of God only infinitely more so?
These are some of the things I'm thinking about. I hope you will take time to think about them too. Here's a suggestion. The next time you enter a time of praise, try, instead, to first enjoy God and then allow your praise to rise out of that. I think you will see it make a significant difference.
One last thought on this. What I enjoy, I talk about. Everyone knows when I've seen a good movie, read a good book, or had a specially good time. I talk about it. Maybe one of the reason we don't talk to others about God is because we don't enjoy Him as much as we do other things in our lives. Ouch. But it's worth thinking about.
I love you. I hope to see you this Saturday night. We are continuing our series on "Sacred Living." Two weeks ago we talked about three obligations that are not optional for a follower of Christ (after all that's what obligational means --- not optional. Sometimes my brilliance underwhelms me). These three things are community, service and mission. We are made a member of the Body of Christ when we decide to follow Christ, and Paul tells us that these relationships are significant and intimate. We are given gifts by the Holy Spirit so we can serve others in the Body, and are told by Paul that it is our responsibility to see the Body built up by what the Holy Spirit has given us. Jesus himself said that every follower of him is on the same mission that he was on when he was here on earth. Simple concepts, but they caused a lot of reactions in our meeting. So varied and intent was the discussion that we didn't get finished. I thought it was great that LifeQuest has become a place where we feel safe to give voice to our inner thoughts. Especially when somewhere between 1/3 to 1/2 of the people at the service raised their hands saying that they really didn't care to get involved in community. Well, I said this was a journey we would take together this summer. So we are going to pause for a little while and revisit this topic this Saturday night. I hope we can look at some fundamental principles, discuss where our values are, and see we need to be and do to fulfill these obligations of every follower with integrity and honesty. I'm looking forward to the conversation (I really am). I hope you will be able to come and contribute.
Coram Deo,
Bruce
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Last Updated ( Oct 03, 2007 at 02:50 PM )
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