God Cares About How We Worship

In the Old Testament, sins required a payment; a physical currency: NOT a barter of services between man and God, but a cold, hard currency of blood, for which there was no exception - NONE.  No action could pay the price, but in those days, God would not accept the payment on behalf of the sinner until his heart was broken enough for him to follow God's orders to the letter.   The very service of worship (during which that blood sacrifice was offered to God) was an important part in God's eyes: He CARED about HOW THEY WORSHIPPED!

Even in the story of Cain and Abel, we see two brothers, both honoring God with a sacrifice, but God approved of one and not of the other. Would anyone dare say it was because God liked the lamb better than the produce?  Of course not!!  The sacrifice was not nearly as important as the heart of the worshiper.  Cain's gift reflected his heart to God like a polished mirror.  He was undone in God's presence, and instead of brokenness, he opted to harden his heart even more.

Fast-forward 4,000 something-odd years:  the requirements are still the same, except that Christ PAID our price.   BUT, for God to accept Christ's payment on our behalf, we have been called to a real faith; not that kind that we try to hide behind a bushel of produce while our brother offers a lamb.  Sometimes in our culture today, that choice to accept a sold-out life for Christ is inappropriately seen as a one-time event; over and done. But God CARES about HOW WE WORSHIP...How we LIVE a life of sacrifice, which honors the Savior who spilled his blood for us.

This week our Worship Planning Team discussed a passage in Hebrews about worship in the Old Testament and how it compares to what worship should be, now that Christ has paid our blood sacrifice. Read that passage. That's right: Christ PAID our price.  But Christ didn't carry out our faith for us in order to allow us a life of unfaithfulness...he didn't complete our life of discipleship so we would never have to follow Him...he didn't surrender his whole life so that we could avoid sacrificing daily for the King.  God STILL CARES about how we worship; and how we worship is all-too-often indicative of His Spirit at work within us.