Tag: Worship

Morning Musing: Habakkuk 2:18-19

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“What use is a carved idol after its craftsman carves it? It is only a cast image, a teacher of lies. For the one who crafts its shape trusts in it and makes worthless idols that cannot speak. Woe to him who says to wood: Wake up! or to mute stone: Come alive! Can it teach? Look! It may be plated with gold and silver, yet there is no breath in it at all.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever tried to get more out of something than it was designed to do? Sometimes we hear about a driver pushing a car, or a pilot a plane to its limits and beyond, but while those occasions can make for impressive stories, a car was designed to drive and a plane to fly. If that’s what they are doing, then they’re right in their zone. I’m talking about trying to get something to do what it was never designed to do. Those stories usually leave us shaking our heads at the foolishness of the person making the effort. In this last woe, Habakkuk cautions those who would do something similar.

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Digging in Deeper: Amos 5:21-24

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“I hate, I despise, your feasts! I can’t stand the stench of your solemn assemblies. Even if you offer me your burnt offerings and grain offerings, I will not accept them; I will have no regard for your fellowship offerings of fattened cattle. Take away from me the noise of your songs! I will not listen to the music of your harps. But let justice flow like water, and righteousness, like an unfailing stream.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever received a gift you really didn’t want? I remember playing a big family White Elephant game when I was growing up. I can’t remember exactly what the first gift I opened was, but it was something pretty cool and I was pleased. But then, my uncle used his turn to steal it for my cousin. The second gift I opened was literally a paperweight. I was crushed. I may have gotten a gift, but I most decidedly did not want it. That was a little bit like how God felt about the worship of the Israelites here. He wanted one thing, but they kept giving Him another; and He wasn’t happy about it.

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Digging in Deeper: Amos 4:4-5

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“Come to Bethel and rebel; rebel even more at Gilgal! Bring your sacrifices every morning, your tenths every three days. Offer leavened bread as a thank offering, and loudly proclaim your freewill offerings, for that is what you Israelites love to do! This is the declaration of the Lord God.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever done the right thing in the wrong place? I was watching one of the Diary of a Wimpy Kid movies with my boys the other day. In one scene, the main character was at a hotel with his family. After a misadventure out in the parking lot late one night, he went back to his room and crawled in bed with his parents only to discover the next morning that it wasn’t his room at all. He had spent the night with another family. That was a pretty funny episode, but as Israel reminds us here, doing things that look right in the wrong places can actually be a pretty dangerous thing as well.

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Digging in Deeper: Matthew 5:23-24

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“So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother or sister has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother or sister, and then come and offer your gift.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter)

Have you ever tried to do something while you were distracted? I’m trying to write this while my kids are watching a mid-90s teenybopper sitcom—not so easy. We weren’t made for doing multiple tasks at the same time. Some people may seem to have the ability to multitask, but the truth is that trying to do more than one thing at the same time is just going to result in not doing any of them very well. Rather uncomfortably, this goes for worship as well as life generally.

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Digging in Deeper: Hosea 5:6

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“They go with their flocks and herds to seek the Lord but do not find him; he has withdrawn from them.”‬‬ (CSB – Read the chapter) 

Have you ever been in one place while your mind and heart were someplace else? You may be physically existing wherever you are, but you aren’t really there. It’s hard to get much of significance done like that. The odds are that whatever it is you are looking to accomplish there either isn’t going to happen at all, or at least isn’t going to happen well. This is true physically, but it’s also true spiritually and relationally. Let’s talk about how. 

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