Psalm 99:9 Exalt the LORD our God
and worship at his holy mountain,
for the LORD our God is holy.

This is the fundamental reason to worship God, but it is completely missed all too often. There were moments in Israel’s history, such as at Mt. Sinai and when fire fell from heaven at Elijah’s prayer, that people indeed responded this way, but even then, this motivation was too quickly lost. God shouldn’t have to use “special effects” to get us to worship Him! Jesus said that God is actively seeking those who will worship Him properly. (John 4:23-24) Jesus pointed out that since God is spirit, our worship must come from our spirits, or our physical acts are meaningless. There’s a lot of meaningless worship that goes on! In a way, the risk of that is greater the longer a person or group has been conducting what they call worship, because of the well known phenomenon of familiarity breeding contempt. In our human weakness, we forget how holy God is. Jesus was born as a human baby to show us that God is not exclusively “other,” but if we reduce Him to just a baby in a manger, we’ve only touched the surface of worship. That little baby was the same God who created the universe, including us, and who loved us enough to take the penalty for our sins on the cross. He is holy!

This has been a point at which I have tripped up more times than I could count. I am well aware of God’s holiness as abstract truth, but all too often I fail to apply that in my own life. Peter put it most succinctly: “But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: ‘Be holy, because I am holy.’” (1 Peter 1:15-16) Our love for God and our obedience to Him, our awareness of His holiness and our own personal holiness, are all intertwined and constitute the motivation and substance of our worship. I love to worship God through music, but that means very little if my life isn’t reflecting His holiness. Sometimes people want to be taught how to “be Christians,” thinking it means liturgy and ceremony. Others think they are Christians because they know the liturgy and ceremonies. Both groups are sadly mistaken. As a pastor, I am called on to teach people to love God and appreciate His holiness, because only then will they learn to worship Him in spirit and in truth. At the same time, while teaching others I must not forget to follow through myself. Before I am the preacher, the counselor, or anything else in this church, I must be the chief worshiper in all I am and do.

Father, thank You for this strong reminder. Thank You again for Your grace and patience toward me. Help me live out the truth I know, so that I may be faithful as a guide to bring many into full discipleship to Christ, for their blessing and Your glory. Thank You. Praise God!