Not Gonna Bow

Psalm 95:6 Come, let us worship and bow down, Let us kneel before the Lord our Maker.  A great verse of Scripture, but I have to wonder “how many of us really bow….?”  Bowing is not a very natural thing.  I remember watching the movie about the Samarai and their respect for their king,  In the movie they showed that they would not approach him without bowing as low as possible to show their honor and reference for him.  How much more should we respect our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  Of course, the scripture in Hebrews 4:16 talks about how we are able to approach the throne of “grace”. Hebrews 4:6 Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Some translations read “boldly before the throne of grace” like we can lord this truth over God.  Not so!!  Our confidence or our boldness is because of the grace we have because of what Christ did on the cross for us.  Jesus is Lord of our life and when we approach the throne of mercy and find that grace, it is nothing about us and all about Jesus.  We have boldness to live our lives in freedom because of God’s grace, but that boldness can never be an excuse to dishonor Jesus.  So we bow down.  He is Lord!!  Why do I say this?  Because of Philippians 2:9-11 9 For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, 10 so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11 and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.  You cannot get any more fine tuned on the honor we are to give the Lord than what you just read.  It should be a “given” that every believer would bow before the Lord’s teaching, His call, His will, and His way.  It “should” be done that way.  But many will not bow!!!  What is the result of not bowing?  A messed up church, and thus, a messed up world.  Earlier in the second chapter of Philippians we read where Paul writes 3 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves.  Boy, that verse has been left out of Christian thinking far too long. Pride and selfishness are at the root of that mighty tree of worldliness.

So if you aren’t bowing to Christ, then to whom are you bowing?   Uh…that would be “the world!’  When was the last time worldly “wisdom” had anything helpful for anything?  If Christians don’t bow before Christ it means that Jesus is not Lord.  If unbelievers don’t bow it means……nothing… because they are “lost.”  What could happen if you don’t bow to the world and all it’s reasoning?  Just look at the young men who would not bow to the idol set up for all to bow and how God helped them weather that storm.

Daniel 3:13 Then Nebuchadnezzar in rage and anger gave orders to bring Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego; then these men were brought before the king. 14 Nebuchadnezzar responded and said to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the golden image that I have set up? 15 Now if you are ready, at the moment you hear the sound of the horn, flute, lyre, trigon, psaltery and bagpipe and all kinds of music, to fall down and worship the image that I have made, very well. But if you do not worship, you will [c]immediately be cast into the midst of a furnace of blazing fire; and what god is there who can deliver you out of my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach and Abed-nego replied to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to give you an answer concerning this matter. 17 If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king. 18 But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.  If we are going to bow we need to bow before the real King of kings and Lord of lords.  We need to honor God with hearts that have a desire to serve Him and ask God for His Holy Spirit power.  Let the Holy Spirit guide you in your life and you will realize the power of God and that power will lead you to bow before God with a heart that is prepared to live for Him.  We need Holy Spirit power and that power is living in all who have turned to Jesus for salvation.  Leave the ways of the world behind and pursue Christ and His righteousness.   John 16:12 “I have many more things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. 13 But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come.14 He will glorify Me, for He will take of Mine and will disclose it to you. 15 All things that the Father has are Mine; therefore I said that He takes of Mine and will disclose it to you.  Jesus tells of the entrance of the Holy Spirit and how the Spirit will help us and guide us. 1 Timothy 6:6 But godliness actually is a means of great gain when accompanied by contentment. 7 For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. 8 If we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 9 But those who want to get rich fall into temptation and a snare and many foolish and harmful desires which plunge men into ruin and destruction.  It is time to reject the worlds ways and center our hearts and minds on Christ and bow our wills to follow His will in all things.  Times may get tough, but God is faithful.

Maude Royden-English preacher and suffragist wrote When you have nothing left but God, then you become aware that God is enough. With that thought in mind, let God be your sufficiency in all things and continue to bow your heart to Him and His goodness.  2 Corinthians 3:5 Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God,

The Pilgrimage continues…..

David Warren