FROM: Banbury, Oxfordshire, United Kingdom
ABOUT ME: Living the highs and lows of life in the adventurous pursuit of God Himself and of who I'm meant to be as the Bride of Christ.
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Tuesday, February 21, 2006,1:17 p.m.
Service as a Substitute for Worship is Idolatry
Not sure if you've all noticed, but a week or two ago I changed the top of my blog page from Romans 12:1-2 to this quote from Richard Foster:
“The first commandment of Jesus is, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength’ (Mark 12:30). The divine priority is worship first, service second. Our lives are to be punctuated with praise, thanksgiving, and adoration. Service flows out of worship. Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry. Activity is the enemy of adoration.”
- Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
Is there anywhere in your life (and mine, I ask myself) where our service - what we do for the kingdom of God - has become what we worship and hold high? When our service has been substitued for a heart committed and surrendered to using those tools to glorify the name of God, the tools themselves have become the god.
Service as a substitute for worship is idolatry.
Let's continually examine ourselves to be sure that our hearts are passionately turned towards God and that what we do simply flows out of that extreme love for Him.
