Growing up in the hills of
Greenbrier County, WV, my family often had to travel in the snow.
Why would you get up, strap the chains on the old Chevy pick up, and
push snow with the bumper? No, this was not on Monday, but on Sunday morning.
My Dad would put on the chains and off we would go to church through
the snow. Often, we were the
first to break the snow and make tracks.
Why not just forget about it? On
such a day as this I am sure that no one would wonder why we weren’t there.
But, my Dad goes rain, snow, or shine.
He is committed to go to church, but more than that he is committed to
going to worship the Lord.
When I was married and lived in my own house, I had to learn to make my
own decisions. Would I go to work
or not? Would I get up at 9am or
6am? Would I get up and go to
church or not? Would I miss the
Sunday Evening service for the Super Bowl or not?
I will never forget the first time I stayed home to watch the Super
Bowl. The Bengals were in the
game and they lost. I don’t
think they have ever been back to the Super Bowl.
I doubt that my missing church had anything to do with their loose. But, I know that I will never forget the conviction I felt
because I wanted to watch the Super Bowl more than come to worship.
When is the best time to worship the Lord?
The best time is N. O. W. The
word “NOW” is mentioned 1321 times in the KJ version of the bible and 1186
times in the NIV. Can you see how
important it is that we recognize that NOW is the time?
But, what if you are about to be thrown into a giant, hot furnace?
What if, it is the night of the big game?
What if all your friends go camping and want you to go?
What if? What If? What If? There
will constantly be obstacles to worshiping the Lord of Heaven and Earth.
But, NOW is the best time to worship God, even if you are about to be
thrown into the fire of a giant furnace.
My French teacher gave us all a button that said “ton optione”,
which meant your choice. Should
we worship God or not? It is your
choice. Here is the story:
Scripture Text:
Dan. 3:25 He answered
and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and
they have no hurt; and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.
26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery
furnace, [and] spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, ye servants
of the most high God, come forth, and come [hither]. Then Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, came forth of the midst of the fire.
27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's
counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the
fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their
coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them. 28 [Then]
Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed [be] the God of Shadrach, Meshach,
and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that
trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies,
that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God. 29
Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which
speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,
shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because
there is no other God that can deliver after this sort. 30 Then the king
promoted Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in the province of Babylon.
The best time is N. O. W
N.
Not when it is convenient.
It will never be convenient or easy to worship the Lord in spirit and
in truth. Why?
Because the very nature of worship puts you in direct conflict with the
world, the devil, and the sinful nature that we all have.
Therefore, we know it will never be convenient to worship the Lord. If you wait until a more convenient time then you will never
find the time. You have to take
the time and the opportunity.
Acts 24:24 (KJS) And after
certain days, when Felix came with his wife Drusilla, which was a Jewess, he
sent for Paul, and heard him concerning the faith in Christ.
25 And as he reasoned of righteousness, temperance,
and judgment to come, Felix trembled, and answered, Go thy way for this time;
when I have a convenient season, I will call for thee.
As far as we know, Felix never found a convenient time
to call on Paul and to worship the Lord.
Many folks have said that the time isn’t right I have something more
to do. You can find the time if
you want to. NOW is the time to
worship.
Why not?
The three Hebrews found that they were confronted with a direct
decision concerning their worship of the one, true living God and the god that
had been created by Nebuchadnezzar. Why
not just give in and worship at the statue a little.
What would it hurt? They
knew that to worship this other god was in direct violation of the worship of
the true God. How could they
worship another when in fact there is no other?
If they didn’t worship the false god they knew they would be thrown
into the furnace, and they were. Can
you worship when you are in the middle of a furnace? God is still there because only three men came out of the
fire. The fourth is God who is
with you even in the fire.
O.
Only when God is Present.
He is always there; so then we should always worship the
Lord. But, what if there are
other gods or things that we need to do.
Then should we just drop it all and worship.
God is present all the time. When
you are alone and when you are at work. When we walk and talk with the Lord we are honoring Him.
Worship is giving ourselves to Him daily.
Experiencing the presence of the living God in our lives is the
greatest opportunity we have in this life.
Why wait until tomorrow? Today
is the day and now is the time, because He is here.
Yesterday is history and tomorrow will never come, so now is the only
time that we can worship. We can
worship God whenever He wants to be worshiped.
But will we and do we? The
Hebrews were commanded to worship the statue of Nebuchadnezzar, but they said
no to the pressure at the risk of loosing their lives in the fire of the
furnace. God was there too. We must dedicate the time of our lives to worship the one,
true living God.
W.
When He wants to be worshiped. Since worship is devoting yourself to God, then it would be
proper to ask when does He want to be worshiped?
We are constantly asking what is the most convenient time for the
people. When do the people want
to come? But, what about God;
have we forgotten about Him? Nebuchadnezzar
set up the instruments to be played when it was time to worship his statue.
God knows whom we are and what we have to do.
He also knows that there are many other things in the world that call
our names and desire to have you and your worship.
So, He leaves the choice up to you to decide what, who, and when you
will worship. In our church we have chosen to hold services that are
dedicated to worship the one true living God on Sunday morning, Sunday
Evening, and Wednesday evenings. On
these times we gather together to worship publicly.
But, that shouldn’t be the only time we give God our attention. I wonder how God feels when and if we choose to dedicate
small leftover portions of our time, talent, and treasures to him.
Although we don’t have idols to bow to, like the Hebrews, we do have
other gods in this world that can take us away from worship of God.
We should worship God when the call to worship has been given and when
it isn’t. We should worship Him
and Him alone. To truly worship
is to do it His way and not yours. If
the gods of the world call out your name, whom will you worship?
Who will come to God’s house to worship and honor the name of the
Lord? Who will not bow to the
gods of the world and alone bow to the true God of the universe?
Which of the following stage of worship are you in?
Three stages of worshiping God: I believe that a person goes through three stages of
growth in their lives.
1.
The first is we worship
God when others wants us to. Others are parents, friends, and family who influence their
lives.
2.
The second is that we worship God when we want to.
We decide that we want to worship and so we do when we want to.
3.
The third is we worship God when God wants us to.
This is the final growth stage and it is the best.
Why is this stage the best? Because
this is truly worship. We worship
God so we ask when to the One who is the object of our worship.
The three Hebrew men chose to worship God because He is and He wants
them to worship Him and Him alone.
2Cor 6:2 (KJS) (For he saith, I
have heard thee in a time accepted, and in the day of salvation have I
succoured thee: behold, now [is]
the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation.)
Friends, which stage have you grown to?
It is obvious that you have come to worship today, so which stage are
you in? Are you coming to worship
because God is and that He is your choice?
He is your God and you want to worship and honor Him because He wants
you to. You can step up to stage
three today. Decide to worship
Him because He is. He will be
worshiped when we decide that we will worship when He wants us to.
That is NOW!