Worthy

Revelations 4:11

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power; for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure all things are and were created.

In my twenty one year career I have received a few awards, for aiding in the saving of a life or just overall quality performance. I attended settings in which others applauded the acts or actions of my past. Someone thought I was deemed worthy of praise. Somehow that pales in comparison to what God has done.

He created all creatures great and small. He hung the stars in the heaven. He warmed the sun with light and painted the skyline with beautiful rays of sun and clouds. He carved out the Grand Canyon and placed the birds in air to soar its heights. But His greatest of all creations was man. Man, who was created in the image of God himself, a mirrored likeness in body, soul, and spirit.

O Lord, you are worthy of praise. Not that I am worthy to offer You praise, but You are worthy to receive glory and honour from Your creation. Your glory is evident to all creation. The mountains sing and the rocks cry out. You are worthy to receive all that I have in service and honour to You. My actions should reflect my humility in knowing that I am created for His pleasure and glory. In humility and love, I honour my King in my words and deeds.

You are worthy, O Lord, to receive power. Power not given by man, not grasped by man, but held in Your storehouse and used for Your pleasure. Power to calm the seas. Power to light the sun and chase away the darkness of night. Power for life and power for death. Power for healing and power for strength. Power for salvation and power for redemption. You my King, are worthy to be praised.

Wrath

On a semi country road today, while driving to a meeting, I noticed a medium sized golden tree standing in a grassy field. It was a perfectly shaped tree with a round bottom that gradually thinned at the top like a pear. This golden beauty was alone in the grassy field. The closest tree or shrub was another twenty feet behind it.

The tree was in the process of loosing its leaves. The tree top down to the middle had already lost its leaves and was bare, its golden beauty resting on the ground below. The lower half of the tree was still robed in beautiful golden yellow leaves.

A strange image entered my mind. The tree reminded me of a woman, half clothed – naked and exposed to all who passed by. I was reminded of the passage in Ezekiel 16 and my heart was broken. “I will sentence you to the punishment of women who commit adultery and who shed blood; I will bring upon you the blood vengeance of my wrath and jealous anger. Then I will hand you over to your lovers, and they will tear down your mounds and destroy your lofty shrines. They will strip you of your clothes and take your fine jewelry and leave you naked and bare…I will put a stop to your prostitution, and you will no longer pay your lovers. Then my wrath against you will subside and my jealous anger will turn away from you; I will be calm and no longer angry.” (38-42)

My heart was broken that this beauty stood there half clothed in elegance, exposed, stripped of its golden beauty and unable to cover its nakedness. God’s creation is in a version of prostitution just like Israel. Israel was blessed by God, given a land of plenty, a place of peace and rest. Yet Israel was not satisfied. She envied the nations and people around her. She followed their wicked practices. She worshipped their many different idols.

In our world today it is preached over and over again, “don’t have any idols before God.” Television is an idol, internet, money, work, kids, hobbies, and the list goes on. But do we hear the word preached about the jealous anger of God? Do we hear about His anger, wrath, or punishment? Do we know the depth of pain and sorrow we cause as we chase after these man made items of pleasure? Do we understand the sacrifice and love that has been offered to us? Do we know the riches and beauty we have been adopted into? Do we know His love? Do we know His intimacy? Do we know Him?

O Beloved, listen to Him. Have you rejected His love? Have you walked away from Him? Have you accepted His gifts and blessing and turned and used them for your own selfish pleasure and gain? Have the distractions of this world pulled you from intimate fellowship with Him? Are you missing church on a regular basis? Are you watching television and not reading the Bible? Are you sleeping late in the morning and not spending time in prayer? O Beloved, listen to the cry of His heart before He burns in jealous anger. Turn from this path of destruction, fall on your knees and call to your Heavenly Father who longs to pull you into His loving arms. He longs to feed you at His banqueting table, to clothe you in joy, peace, and righteousness. Simply repent and call out to Him asking forgiveness. Call to Him. Run to Him. Return to Him.