God is faithful and good. God is sovereign. God is our redeemer.
What have we been created for?
Created for Worship
Act Two, Week 4
When you sat down to study week four "Created for Worship," and read Genesis 2:15, you may have initially thought, "Am I on the correct verse? This seems about work!" Alas, you were in the right place! Genesis 2:15 says, "The LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to work it and keep it." This working, this keeping, it is worship. It is what He has placed us here on this earth to do. It is what we are created for, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, [we don't even have to strive or make up the work, we rest in it—see Creation Act 2: week 3] that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).
But, we get it all mixed up and confused. First, we tend to think of worship exclusively as a time of song or prayer. Second, we work, and we work, and we work! The tasks can seem daunting, like a big wall that we can't push through. I know, I am facing that wall right now! Tonight, as I type this, my house is a chaotic mess (the walls and ceilings are in the process of being painted), Six people's bags and items should be packed and lying by the door, but they are not (we are leaving early in the morning for Thanksgiving with family). My husband is leading the men's event at church this evening, my boys are each busy finishing up tasks before we leave, and I am, well, writing this summary!
There are times like these when I find myself so busy, even busy doing what the Lord has asked of me, that I hear myself asking the Lord, "Can I worship you instead of doing this work?" Ironic huh? In Romans 12:1-2 Paul appeals to us, "...by the mercies of God, to present [our] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [our] spiritual worship." I know God is pleased with my worship through song, prayer, and praise, but what He is even more pleased with is me—all of me. I worship Him by surrendering my heart to His will. Even when His will is work, which is not my idea of worship.
I feel like the woman at the well this evening, weary of the work, hot, tired and thirsty (John 4:15). And I hear Him calling me, "Meghan, do you hear My voice?" "Meghan, do not harden your heart and get lost in the tasks." "Meghan, worship Me in the moment." Have I done that? He is asking me this evening to come and worship and bow down, to drink from the well of living water, to kneel before Him. He is my maker and He created me for this very thing. He is our God. He created us to worship Him. He created us to work. He wants surrendered hearts to His will. In John 4:23, we read that "the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him." I don't think true worship looks like grumbling and striving in our own will. It doesn't even look like being at a church service or belting out worship songs in the car. True worship is a heart softened, humbled, and surrendered to give our King all of us—our worship, love, and glory in every way He asks of us. To worship Him in faith, as we were created to do, we must die to our own desires (our old self) and live for Christ, the one God.
When Ken Ham, founder of Answers in Genesis, talks about what each animal was created to do he says, "It (the frog for instance) is designed to do what it does do, and what it does do, it does do well." I have thought about that phrase a lot this week. We are designed to worship God our Father, Jesus His Son, and the Holy Spirit. Do we do that? Even more so, do we do it well?
“Worthy are you, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they existed and were created.”
Revelation 4:11
♥️ Meghan
This concludes Act Two: Creation. The Act Three: Rebellion cards are ready! Please grab one from the Women's board at church. We will be taking a break this week for Thanksgiving.
