For the record, I missed Saturday because I actually had no credit. Internet access is prepaid here, and I had used up my data before Saturday. How legit is that? Very.
2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified unto them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them.
It is one thing to live as I see fit, and still come out at the end having preserved the basic substance of life, i.e. identity and purpose. Quite another matter arises if I should realize the emptiness of all my efforts in that respect. That is to say, it would be a sad day indeed to find out that my source of identity and purpose is empty like an abandoned, leaky cistern.
...and they followed vanity.
Just as grave as missing this fundamental need to worship, worshipping in vain affects the innermost layers of existence itself. When two people spend much time together, friends or roommates for instance, they begin to adopt each others behavioral patterns, even to the extent that they breathe with similar rhythms when asleep. Worship has the same effects on the worshipper. I derive a large sense of personal value from my object of worship. If my object of worship is of actual worth comparable or greater to that which I ascribe to it/him/her/them, then I wager that I would maintain a higher sense of self-worth. If I decide worship something/someone that is not actually worthy or the worth I give, negative effects are a result. This is because worship is impossible without relationship. If I am to worship authentically, I must get closer to my object of worship relationally. There is no other way. As I come closer, our rhythms, whatever they may be, will become increasingly similar. So you see this line of reasoning: if my god (for what we worship, we have deified to the best of our understanding) is not really worthy of worship, then I become more "hollow," so to speak, until giving my all matches the actual worth of my obect of worship. The opposite is true for a truly worthy deity; I rather become fulfilled, and even more completely so with the deepening relationship.
...and they followed vanity, and became vain.
The point: Worship only what is most worthy. Anything less, and you will destroy yourself.
2 Kings 17:15 And they rejected his statutes, and his covenant that he made with their fathers, and his testimonies which he testified unto them; and they followed vanity, and became vain, and went after the nations that were round about them, concerning whom Jehovah had charged them that they should not do like them.
It is one thing to live as I see fit, and still come out at the end having preserved the basic substance of life, i.e. identity and purpose. Quite another matter arises if I should realize the emptiness of all my efforts in that respect. That is to say, it would be a sad day indeed to find out that my source of identity and purpose is empty like an abandoned, leaky cistern.
...and they followed vanity.
Just as grave as missing this fundamental need to worship, worshipping in vain affects the innermost layers of existence itself. When two people spend much time together, friends or roommates for instance, they begin to adopt each others behavioral patterns, even to the extent that they breathe with similar rhythms when asleep. Worship has the same effects on the worshipper. I derive a large sense of personal value from my object of worship. If my object of worship is of actual worth comparable or greater to that which I ascribe to it/him/her/them, then I wager that I would maintain a higher sense of self-worth. If I decide worship something/someone that is not actually worthy or the worth I give, negative effects are a result. This is because worship is impossible without relationship. If I am to worship authentically, I must get closer to my object of worship relationally. There is no other way. As I come closer, our rhythms, whatever they may be, will become increasingly similar. So you see this line of reasoning: if my god (for what we worship, we have deified to the best of our understanding) is not really worthy of worship, then I become more "hollow," so to speak, until giving my all matches the actual worth of my obect of worship. The opposite is true for a truly worthy deity; I rather become fulfilled, and even more completely so with the deepening relationship.
...and they followed vanity, and became vain.
The point: Worship only what is most worthy. Anything less, and you will destroy yourself.
posted from Bloggeroid
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