It is a known understanding that whatever is worth doing is worth doing well, and a fact that a servant of two masters must honor one to the despise of the other, a situation that is sure to attract disfavor to the servant.
Therefore it is in the quest to save all men, and indeed all Christian from the negative and eternal consequences of letting loyalty to, and faith in anything else interfere with their loyalty to, and faith in the only true God, which should be total and absolute, that we introduce to you the theme – WORSHIPING GOD AND?
As the scripture says- “Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them; for I the LORD THY God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children
unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me” (Exodus 20:3 -5 KJV). “Little children, keep yourselves from idols (false gods) – [from anything and everything that
would occupy the place in your heart due to God, from any sort of substitute for Him that would take first place in your life] (1John 5:21 AMP).
In the first four of the Commandments we are presented with issues relating to man’s relationship to God. Each of these paints a
different picture of who God is and how mankind is to love Him. Man was created in the image of God and thus was created with the capacity to love Him. The purpose for the
creation of mankind was to love God and be loved by Him. As Jesus Stated, “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This
is the first and great commandment”.(Matthew 22:37-38 ). Man’s love for God is demonstrated by reverence of and obedience to Him and His commandments. These
commandments as we see above come first as they require first priority in the heart of mankind. They begin thus “You shall have no other gods before Me”. For the Israelites, this
was a vital commandment to their preservation as a nation of God. God was going to lead them into the long-awaited Promise Land. But the people of this land
called Canaan were overrun with pagan culture and religion. Their worship was centered on an array of gods, including Baal, and Dagon. So for Israel to remain under the
eternal and all sufficient covering of Jehovah, they must be unique in one major way – the way of worshiping Him and Him alone.
As for the people of Canaan, all of these gods were viewed as powerful and effective means for the prosperity of agriculture, economics,
health and fertility, financial wealth, and more. But the fact remained that none of them was the true God, the Creator God, the Almighty God. They were simply a counterfeit, a spiritual trap set up by Satan to deceive the
nations. The nation of Israel will easily succumb to this same deception if they neglected to keep the first commandment. Unfortunately for Israel, the culture from
which they had escaped was built upon a legion of gods that was just as colorful as the gods of Canaan. During their 400- year capacity in Egypt, they had most certainly been exposed to the dozens of Egyptian gods
that ruled the spiritual underworld. Even pharaoh himself was considered to be a god, and was treated as such. Just like the gods of Canaan, none of the gods of Egypt represented Almighty God. The land they
came from and the land they were going to were filled with gods that they were to utterly reject. Instead, the children of God were to cling
to one true God, placing Him far above all other false gods. Again, it is very important to understand that their sustenance, prosperity and protection depend on their obedience to this commandment.
At this point, I think it is important to say that man in his current nature is a worshipping being. By this I mean that as far as man is
concerned, there is no such thing as not worshipping. Everybody worship. The only choice we have is what to worship. I know we understand worship to mean giving honor,
homage, reverence, respect, adoration, praise, or glory to a superior being, but making reference to the amplified rendition of 1st John 5:21, I am persuaded to define worship as “placing priority on any being or thing as a source of sustenance or any kind of favor”
(this is my definition). With this I maintain that all mankind worship. Let me also say that whatever one worships is a god to the person. I say this because whatever we place
our hope on, we depend on in finding meaning in life. And whatever we depend on in finding the meaning in life, we worship, and whatever we worship we tend to seek more of. Worship
your own body and beauty and you will always feel ugly, and when old age comes you become frustrated. Worship power- you will feel weak and afraid, and you will need more power over others to keep the fear at bay.
Worship your intellect, being seen as smart – you will end up feeling stupid, worship money, you will never have enough and you see
everything from a monetary value point. Worship the only true God, you will always seek more knowledge of, and a closer relationship with, Him. Little wonder God
commanded His people not to go after” other gods”. “you shall not go after other gods, the gods of the people who are all around you (for the LORD your God is a Jealous God among
you). Lest the anger of the LORD your God be aroused against you and destroy you from the face of the earth.” (Deuteronomy 6:14).
The Bible teaches that the gods of the peoples, – all of them, not some of them, – are “idols”: “For all the gods of the people are
idols, but the LORD made the heavens.” (1 chronicles 16:26). According to Webster, an idol is “ an image used as an object or instrument of worship.” A idol, in the broadcast sense, is any god man makes for
himself. Since it does not fall within man’s ability to make or unmake gods, the gods man makes are “no gods”: “Shall a man make gods unto himself, and they are no gods?” (Jeremiah 16: 20)
For the Christians today, the same truth is still relevant. Jesus said in Matthew 4:10, “You shall worship the Lord your God and Him
only shall you serve.” If we worship God in spirit and in truth, we cannot worship anyone or anything else. Anything we worship, other than God, is an idol.
Why does God demand, seek, or request that we worship Him alone?
God demands to be worshipped alone
because He and He alone is worthy of it. He is the only being that truly deserves worship. He alone is our Maker. He requests that we acknowledge His greatness, His power, and
His glory Revelation 4:11 says, “You are worth, O Lord, to receive glory and honor and power; For you created all things, And by your will they exist and were created.” God created us, and He will not be usurped.
God expects us to worship Him alone as an expression of reverence and thanksgiving to Him. But God also expects us to be obedient to him. He wants not only for us to love Him; He wants us to act justly towards each other,
to show love and compassion to others. In this way, we present ourselves to Him as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to Him. This glorifies God and is our “reasonable service”
(Romans 12: 1). When we worship with an obedient heart and an open and repentant spirit, God is glorified, Christians are purified, the church is edified, and the lost are evangelized. These are all the elements of true worship.
God also desires that we worship Him alone because our eternal destiny depends on our worship of the true and living God. Philippians 3:3 describes the true church –“For we are
the circumcision, who worship God in the spirit, and rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh.” In other words, the church is uniquely identified as God’s people, but not through physical circumcision. The
church is made up of those who worship only God in their spirit rejoicing in Christ, and not trusting in themselves or anything else for salvation. Those who do not worship the true
and living God alone are none of His, and their eternal destiny is
hell. But the true worshippers are identified by their worship of God alone and their eternal home is with the God they worship and adore.
A CALL TO CHRISTIANS
In establishing Israel as a family to showcase His sovereignty and love over the created world, God gave them an unchangeable
condition “You shall have no other gods except me….” (Exodus 20:3EE). The implication of this is that for Israel to maintain absolute and undivided implication
of this is that for Israel to maintain her relationship with God and enjoy the infinite blessings thereof, she must maintain absolute and undivided reverence of God and
Him alone, as no one can serve two masters at the same time (Matt.6: 24). Consequently, for any family and society to continue to enjoy the infinite mercy, grace, and abundance
of God, such must reverence, serve and worship Him, the only true God, and Him alone. Therefore we must remind every christians, that success in the discharging of
this call and responsibility of lies solely on total trust, commitment, depend on, and true worship of Him who has thus called them.
Therefore every christian must consider, with truth and sincere personal appraisal, of this massage“WORSHIPPING GOD AND?” WHAT ELSE IS TAKING THE PLACE OF GOD IN YOUR LIFE AND THAT OF YOUR FAMILY?
WHAT ELSE IS COMPETING WITH GOD FOR YOUR ATTENTION, DEDICATION, LOYALTY AND SERVICE? WHAT IS IN YOUR SHOP/ OFFICE ; BIBLE OR THE OTHER THING?
Be it known that a situation where a Christian
more over, who calls himself a believer, brings or makes reference to any other god or form of deity in matters relation to his family or community, such Christian removes his family or community from the all sufficient
protection and provision of the only true God. When fathers consult, or visit the shrine or any deity, or support such consultation or visit for settlement of issues and cases, such Christian reject the sovereignty of God over their families and society thereby making
them vulnerable to the assaults of the devil and his cohorts. When a Christian visits or consult any other deity other than the only true God for life successes, when a Christian
seeks money and processions as if life depends on them, or puts business pursuits before service to God, he or she immediately removes him or herself from the love of God thereby denying him or herself true success in life.
We therefore advice Every Christian to commit themselves to an undivided worship and service of the Almighty God through His son, Jesus the Christ our Lord. To summit
themselves to the teachings of the church and shun any form of syncretism which spells doom to their families in particular and
society in general. We must understand that the God who has chosen us through His Son Jesus the Christ is more than able to bestow on us every wisdom, strength, and grace to
oversee every situation in our life to His glory and our blessing. All we need is a total and undivided loyalty, dependence, and reverence to Him. In a world that is becoming increasingly ungodly, even with the
multiplication of churches and religious groups, Christians must be alive to our responsibility of constantly pointing our children to the true God, whose knowledge is everlasting life and the service of whom is
perfect freedom. We must remember that from whom much is given much is required.
We are the light of our homes and society, and so we must shine to God’s glory and our blessing. WORSHIP GOD ALONE AND YOUR DAYS WILL BE LONG AND BRIGHT .
Shalom….
Also read this…..
“Tomorrow Shall Come With Joy”