April 7, Day 97 – The Gift of Worship
- Dr. Eric Stricker
- Apr 7
- 3 min read
Today we come to Deuteronomy 4:15-5:3. Here we see that God forbids the Israelites from “making idols or images like a man or a woman, an animal or a bird, or like any creature” (verses 16-18). God says, “watch yourselves very carefully” (verse 15). This means that we are to examine ourselves regularly to ensure that we are “not enticed into bowing down and worshiping” such created things (verse 19; cf., 2 Corinthians 13:5-7). One of God’s exclusive gifts to mankind is the gift of worship – which singularly identifies us as His image bearers. However, sin has marred our ability to administer this gift responsibly, resulting in our natural propensity to abuse this gift and misdirect it toward other lessor things rather than toward our Creator. Such action is blasphemous toward God, and it degrades the dignity of our high place in the created order. This matter is so serious that God calls all “heaven and earth as witnesses against” those who engage in idol worship – promising them on oath that they “will certainly be destroyed” (verse 26). God sets forth the evidence that “no other god” has done for any other nation what He alone has done for the Israelites “before their very eyes” (verses 33-34), and this applies to us as well, by extension. In Deuteronomy 5, God presents His law (i.e., the Ten Commandments) to the Israelites a second time – with the injunction – “Be careful to do what the LORD your God has commanded you; do not turn aside to the right or the left … so that you may live” (verses 32-33).
In Proverbs 8:32-36, wisdom encourages us three times to “listen to me; listen to my instruction” (verses 32-33). Whoever finds me, finds life … but whoever fails to find me harms himself … and loves death” (verses35-36).
In Luke 11:5-32, Jesus says, “So I say to you: Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.” Our God alone has the capacity to offer and to provide His children with what they ask for. In fact, here in this passage, we see that God encourages us to ask for “good things” (verses 11-13). God wants to bless us with good things! Knowing this, we should pray for the right things – things that are aligned with His will – and we should ask with the right motives. Even in our asking, we should ask for the wisdom to know what to pray for – like Jabez did (cf., 1 Chronicles 4:10). God’s lovingkindness to us should cause us to be considerate and not selfish. Jesus perfectly modeled this behavior.
All of today’s readings provide much practical truth that we should apply to our hearts and practice in our daily lives. Every human being should ask himself, “What if these passages are true? What if Ms. Wisdom of Proverbs 8 is correct?” The implication is simply this – until we come to true (i.e., biblical) wisdom, we are like dead people – zombies walking along the slow road to self-destruction, loving every step and each moment along that horrible way. This description identifies our own current culture which is living by its own lies – having rejected and removed the truth of God. Here’s the fact: today’s readings are true. How far do need we to look before we see how these principles line up with reality? We have witnessed man’s disdain of God’s gift of worship, and it has produced the destruction of our time-honored institutions; the erosion of our God-given values; the senseless killings committed by madmen whose only justification is a selfish will to power; and the wild self-harms perpetrated by the crazy-crowd and their devastation caused by alcohol or drug-induced addictions. May I say to you that God’s Word is true, and may it not be too late for Him to have mercy on us!
Commentaires