Don’t Trifle With Worship! It Belongs To God!

Whether saved or yet to be saved, it has become apparent to me, that man loves to be worshipped. There is something about the flesh that yearns for worship and despite that we have committed our lives to Christ, we are often still moved when men worship us, to the extent that it impacts our decisions and choices yet God says He alone should be worshipped. Whilst He compels no one to worship Him, He makes it clear that worship belongs to Him and Him alone. It is most likely that man’s desire to be worshipped is something that became a part of man following from the fall of man. It is certainly not Christ-like so it could not have been one of those things that man acquired from being made in the image and likeness of God. I say this easily because it was never a problem for Jesus. He was never moved by people’s worship or adulation; instead He always saw through man and was well aware of the nature of man. Meanwhile, the devil understands its potency so he uses it against us.

 

John 2: 24 – 25 “But Jesus didn’t trust them, because he knew all about people. No one needed to tell him about human nature, for he knew what was in each person’s heart.”

Man at his very best is man and as such cannot be God so we are not suggesting that we never make mistakes. However, if we make the same mistake over and over again then it is no longer a mistake but a habit which God is revealing to us as a character flaw which we need to deal with. The bible says if we continue in sin, we are sinners and that, despite that we claim to be born again. Whatever you do consistently is who you are despite that you didn’t intend to do it and was sorry after doing it. However, God gives grace to make the required correction and will work with us to make the correction. The consequences however, we may have to suffer and sometimes, the full weight of it is not immediately apparent. We must always get to the point where we are able to tell ourselves the truth so that we can seek help from God. An alcoholic may keep telling himself that he only takes a few glasses of alcohol and as such will never seek help. The day he realizes that it is a habit, as a result of which he has become an alcoholic; he then is better inclined to seeking help. Let us not deceive ourselves, God is very kind and merciful to always deliver us but we must remember that deliverance from God is sometimes in the form of grace to go through the consequences of our stupidity.

Luke 18: 18 – 19 “Once a religious leader asked Jesus this question: ‘Good Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?’ ‘Why do you call me good?’ Jesus asked him. ‘Only God is truly good.”

One of our problems today is that we no longer see anything wrong with claiming to have committed our lives to Christ yet living according to the dictates of the flesh. So that not only do a lot of us yearn to be worshipped, the agents of satan in our midst have learnt to worship us easily pandering to our flesh and thereby accomplishing their purpose because of our innate longing to be adored. A lot of us blame it on several different things including insecurities, and you may be right, but I beg to let you know that excuses don’t prevent the consequences. You need to face up to the fact that you long for it and ask God to help you deal with it. We must be able to listen to the Spirit of God in the midst of people worshipping us and hear what God would say or do. Jesus would have killed Himself much earlier than His time to die if He allowed Himself to be moved by worship from man. The truth is that the man that wants to give you worship and adulation is doing so for his own benefit and does not care the consequences to you. All he cares about is what he wants from you, you have to watch out for your own self. Even the Gadarene demoniac fell before Jesus in worship acknowledging Him as the son of God even when some of His disciples did not know that, yet Jesus was not carried away by all the worship; He recognized the spirit that was at work in Him.

Luke 8: 28 “As soon as he saw Jesus, he shrieked and fell down in front of him.”

Clearly, the bible talks about giving honor to whom honor is due and respecting older people; these are not the same as worship. We must watch out for people that demand worship and those that like to worship others. Neither of both sets of people truly serve the Lord unto whom all worship belongs. Let me observe also, that any true believer will also know to give honor to whom honor is due and be respectful. Even if no one taught you to be respectful, the Spirit of God on the inside of every one of us is able to teach us. However, we must be careful not to cross the line and I dare to suggest that when believers cross this line, they are motivated by selfishness and a strong desire to achieve their own agenda and it could be at the expense of your life like the King who got high and worship and was slain by God. Let us be sensitive. These are perilous times.