WEEKLY WALK IN THE WORD

Mathew 2:1-12 Continuing on from our last several weeks theme of WORSHIP of God as being an integral part of the Christian life and experience. Its been such a great joy and privilege to share with the beloved in Christ for the last several weeks on this subject and see the results come alive in front of you. We hear so much around the beginning of the year talked and preached and spoken about the first fruits and their significance and sad to say that much of it is consumed by money as the emphasis. I am not saying that money is not a part of the first fruit teaching or should not  be a part, much to the contrary all I’m saying is that in our teaching and preaching we need to have true balance. As pastors and teachers there is much that will be required of us in how we present and what we present and where we place all of our emphasis. I am so tired of seeing the church and especially here in North America being used as a slot machine people are being taught that if they only do this and do that they will get their hearts desire. This short exhortation I’m placing here is  my small contribution to the worldwide church that is now becoming affected by this ideology. When I look at the portion of scripture before us I see a group of people who are following an inner knowing discovered by the outward sign in the skies that they should come and WORSHIP. I believe that Worship of the true and living God is a vital part of the growing of a Christian believer and today there are not enough voices pointing and showing people the way to a healthy and whole life in Christ. As I look at this group who came from the East to Jerusalem for no other reason but to Worship ( verse 2) I have to say that they were firstly intentional. I believe they had opportunity to turn back and return to their homes the journey was one that came from far and not from around the corner. And I am persuaded by careful study and reading up of the scholars of that their journey would have been a journey with possible dangers yet they came and were not distracted. True and real honest Worship will make you leave the comfort of your home to go somewhere to meet the object of your Worship as was the case of our group we find in this portion of scripture. Who knows what inner turmoil and personal struggle they had to endure before setting out on this journey with perhaps all the reasonable people making the case for them to think things through again. Perhaps there were those who suggested they stay for the sake of their safety and the sake of their families well being if anything bad should befall them. And as you read this I am sure there are those of us who can say yes man thats exactly what I have had to go through every time I make a conscious choice to get up and go and Worship the true and living God. This God who is offering His love upon a creation of His who at times have rejected His love and this God who promised all who come to Him in repentance He would provide a Hope and way out of the Hopeless situations and circumstance that stand before us. True Worship made them bring their wealth with them and not leave it at home, about right now you wondering about my earlier comments I made about the pre-occupation some minister have with money in teaching about first fruits. There is no confusion or contradiction but rather this portion shows us they came to Worship without anyone pressuring them and they gave their wealth not asking for or expecting anything in return as is the case in so many churches today. We are told to give and we are told its all a part of our worship and that the Lord will give it back to us, I am all for encouraging believers to faithful in their giving but not in favour of taking advantage of believers. Its here that so many Idols are being set up by our church leaders unsuspectingly when we ask people to give and they can expect a return and harvest people become consumed by that thought and literally worship there. After all what is the definition of worship is it not the revering of something and the pre-occupation with and the time given to something other than God who gives us liberally. There should be no doubt in the minds of any believer that God our mighty God is the biggest giver and He does not need to coaxed to give a return of what we have given. For His nature and character have reflected that attribute for millennia and to suggest or to promote the idea of  giving money is going to get God to give back to us is absurd God does what He does for us because He loves us and there is nothing you and I can do about it. People begin to grow with a deformed spiritual slant when they do not have their return come as quickly as they had hoped for, spending an endless about energy on this expectation that what they heard has to happen and rest of their christian life is put on hold. Some even develop an unhealthy idea of the loving God who wants to bless them for a very different reason not the reason they have been made to receive from well wishers. There is a lie that has been perpetrated and continues to go on unabated and that is,God is in competition with all the other gods for our attention and if He our God almighty were to just give us what we want when we want it He will have a faithful people. That my friends is the wave of Consumer christianity that is pervasive in our North American church culture adopted from our secular consumer mentality, and the sad thing it seems to be getting exported from North America to unsuspecting churches all around the globe either by ignorance or through volition. Now back to my point at hand the Worship of the supreme and mighty God we serve is something we too could learn a lesson from these who came from the East to Jerusalem our Worship should be INTENTIONAl because He first Loved us. Worship should be something we set our hearts on and when we ponder all that the Lord God has done for us there should be a response to it. Not something that is going to happen through some kind of mysterious event or through osmosis it just gradually happened to me look and learn its why we have the scriptures for them to teach us. Second thing about this group of people that came from the East as stated earlier nobody was forcing them to travel across what some say was hundreds of miles to come and Worship. Their Worship was if I can call it Volitional Worship it was done as an act of their wills they engaged their wills to come to Jerusalem to Worship their Christ child. I do not see in this portion of scripture anywhere that they were made to bring their Treasure as it says in ( verse 2) I would think that is what our worship of the Lord God almighty should be. Singing in church does not necessarily constitute a worship time although it may enhance a time and lead to a great time of Worship. Anyone can sing christian or gospel songs and not having any connection the real issue of Worship. This world is full of great singers saved and unsaved who for the dollars that can be made from the sales of their albums become rich overnight. Over the last several years the Gospel music industry has become an area of much attention because it provides a large audience to sell products to so no doubt it has unbelievers singing Gospel in hope of cashing in. Its like we do not pray for the sake of praying but rather we pray because we have a relationship with the one we are praying to. Otherwise prayer just becomes an excersise in legalism and a one way street, that does not necessary constitute prayer. The object of prayer should always be as with Worship the Lord God almighty and strong and the joy of  knowing and the pleasure of speaking with and listening to Him speak back to us. We should not do things for the sake of doing because thats what is done in churches every sunday and every time they gather, rather we should sing, and pray every prayer, and listen to every sermon, and every good deed everyday and every breath we breathe should be an act of true WORSHIP. Intentional and meditated and designed to glorify our HEAVENLY FATHER. ( John 4:23-24