A.W Tozer wrote: “I can safely say, on the authority of all that is revealed in the Word of God, that any man or woman on this earth who is bored and turned off by worship is not ready for heaven.” I hope you are ready for heaven and that readiness is seen in how you worship the Lord with your life and with your voice. We have too many "dead" worshippers who are not wiling to change, or let God change them. I am not talking just about singing worship, but "life" worship. Paul wrote in Romans 12:nd so, dear brothers and sisters,[a] I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. What stops us from worshipping the Lord as we should? Usually, it is traditional things that have taken residence in our thinking. Here are some signs of the presence of traditions.
When planning or making plans for some kind of ministry effort if you only consider doing this year what you did last year, you might have a tradition problem. Or you might just be lazy also.
In Isaiah, the Lord told his prophet these verses. Isaiah 43:15 I am the Lord, your Holy One, Israel’s Creator and King. 16 I am the Lord, who opened a way through the waters,
making a dry path through the sea. 17 I called forth the mighty army of Egypt with all its chariots and horses. I drew them beneath the waves, and they drowned, their lives snuffed out like a smoldering candlewick. The Lord is reminding His people of just how much He has done for them and how powerful He is in leading them to victory. And then God says this in the verses following the above verses in Isaiah 43: 18 “But forget all that— it is nothing compared to what I am going to do. 19 For I am about to do something new. See, I have already begun! Do you not see it? I will make a pathway through the wilderness. I will create rivers in the dry wasteland.
God says 'there is more to come!" What happens to us many times if we "sit on our laurels" and begin to think things are good like they are and we come to a halting stop! God has created great momentum and we just lay down and take a break to brag on how much we have done, not realizing God has many more "new things" He wants to do. All of it is tied together and it is "moving forward." In fact, if we are not moving forward in the freshness of the Holy Spirit, we are going backward and that is when the wrong kind of traditions continue to "stall" the Spirit of God moving.
Keep in mind the traditions that are right and lasting are built around the teaching of the Word of God. Paul wrote this to the church in Thessalonica in 2 Thessalonians 2:15 So then, brethren, stand firm and hold to the traditions which you were taught, whether by word of mouth or by letter from us. Godly traditions are those that are found in God's word. Anything else is not to be allowed. Don't just settle for mediocrity, but soar as an eagle and God will do great things in your life. Just remember, if it is not in The Book (The Bible) it is not from God.
The Pilgrimage Continues.
David Warren