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Season 3, Episode 13
For Friday, May 13, 2016
“What We Worship We Are Becoming”
HOST: Wade Webster
Show Notes:
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, “The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And we will worship something — have no doubt of that either. We may think that our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of the heart — but it will out. That which dominates our imagination and our thoughts will determine our life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we are worshipping, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.” In this study, we are going to examine the need to worship the right thing.
Episode Transcript:
Ralph Waldo Emerson is credited with saying, “The gods we worship write their names on our faces, be sure of that. And we will worship something — have no doubt of that either. We may think that our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of the heart — but it will out. That which dominates our imagination and our thoughts will determine our life and character. Therefore it behooves us to be careful what we are worshipping, for what we are worshipping we are becoming.”
It does seem clear that we are becoming what we worship. Concerning idols, the psalmist declared, “They that make them are like unto them: so is every one that trusteth in them” (Psalms 135:18; 115:8). The idols in the context were pictured as deaf, blind, mute, and dead. Even worse than that, they were angry, cruel, and immoral. A study of the nations that worshipped these idols or false gods will show that they became like their gods. For example, the Assyrians were especially violent. History records that when they conquered a city they would leave a pyramid of human skulls outside the city gates to serve as a warning to others who might be tempted to resist them.
If we worship the wrong thing, then becoming like what we worship is a really bad thing. However, if we worship the right thing, then becoming like what we worship, is a really good thing. Our God can see and hear. He is living and He speaks to us through His word. Greatest of all, he is loving, patient, and holy. When we worship Him, we become like Him. In the twelfth chapter of Romans, Paul wrote, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Rom. 12:1-2). Those who love the world and the things of the world will be conformed to its image (1 John 2:15-17). They will dress like the world, talk like the world, and act like the world. However, those who worship God will be conformed to His image and to the image of His Son. Earlier in the book of Romans, Paul wrote, “For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren” (Rom. 8:29). When we worship God, we will slowly, but surely, be transformed. We will become merciful, holy, and reasonable. Then, we will truly be able to present our bodies as a living sacrifice. Then, and only then, will our sacrifices be holy and acceptable to God.
As we get ready to worship this week, let’s pay special attention to the aim of our worship. After all, we are becoming like what we worship.
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