Equal to the Task

My worship ministry class is amazing. We read the first chapter from the book Created for Worship by David Jackman and it had a lot of really good stuff to say--however, it was a slightly tedious reading so I'll skip to the two main, profound thoughts for me:

1. "The people of God are empowered by God in the context of their worship and in the ministry of the Word and Spirit that forms the matrix of their life as the worshipping community of God. Conversely, the discussion of idolatry throughout the Bible is predicated on the assumption that those who worship idols are seeking power from them, either for such blessings as fertility and fruitfulness, or for victory in battle and expansion of their empires. In this way the Temple-Sanctuary of God is the place of his people's protection and empowerment, while the temple-sanctuaries of the idols exist as sinful alternatives to this place of true empowerment." This was big for me because it gave me a whole new perspective and understanding of the degree of the severity of idolatry. I mean--the fact that I would choose to worship something/someone other than God is bad enough--but once I started to understand what a dangerous place that puts me in made me want to not only worship the right person, but it made me want to do it whole heartidly. In light of how big of a deal worship is, I am begining to think that a lot of the inner struggles in life, the struggles going on around us that we don't see in the spiritual realm are a batle for who we worship--worship including Sunday mornings from 10-11, our life style, the essence we live our lives out of, our church activities. Wow.

2. The book also talks about Jesus's role as a Davidid King, Priest and Second Adam etc.It talked about how one of the major responsibilities of the King of Israel was to lead the people in right worship. "His mission as the great Davidic King would hinge entirely on His worship of God. Its successful outcome woul be a worshipping people, led by His own faithfulness to the throne of His Father." Now--I'm not Davidic King or anything--I don't lead nations in worship--but I started thinking about my own role in leading worship and realized that in order to be the best worship leader I can, I must first be the best, most dedicated worshipper I can. In whatever worship ministry God places me in will "hinge entirely on [my] worship of God--led by [my] own faithfulness to the throne of [my] Father." This makes me breathe a little easier because it's not about me having all the skills and abilities and answers--but at the same time--knowing that my personal relationship with Christ will effect the success of my ministry is a humbling, exciting, overwhelming, challenging and intense thought.

These have been my thoughts the last few days. In church last week, the speaker encouraged us to ask God two questions "What can I do for You?" and "Lord, please make me equal to the task."

Indeed, Lord--make me equal to the task.

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