The Westminster Catechism responds to the question, “What is the chief and highest end of man?” by responding “Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.”
Do we truly hold that our chief and highest end—our very reason for being is to glorify God, and fully enjoy him forever? Do we wake from sleep each morning with a burning passion to live life to the glory of God? Is God’s glory the goal that is the driving force behind every word that we say, every thought that we think, and every decision that we make?
In the Old Testament priests would bring the offerings of God’s people to Him in the form of a sacrifice—lambs, goats, that sort of thing. The best of their flock would be offered as an atoning sacrifice, a representation of what would ultimately take place with Christ. They would offer the best of their flock as a statement that God deserved it, he was worthy of the very best that they had.
We no longer offer animals in burnt sacrifice—the lives that we live, the songs that we sing, the attitudes of our hearts are our living sacrifices to the God who is more than worthy of our praise.
In Malachi, the prophet chastises the priests of God for offering up less than their best. They were sacrificing the blind and the lame as offerings. They were giving God whatever they had left over—simply so they could go through the motions of sacrifice. The result of their actions was that the whole process lost all meaning; what was meant as a sacrificial act of worship point to Christ became a meaningless ritual.
Are we not guilty of similar things today? Doesn’t the clutter of life often get in the way of living the lives that we so desire to live? Get in the way of living life in a way that God intended? How many times are we so consumed by the things of life—however important they may seem—that we are left bringing God what we have left rather than our best? We give out of emptiness rather than out of fullness. When we relate to God in fatigue and weakness rather than energy and strength, the Christian life loses meaning; what should be a sacrificial life of worship becomes meaningless ritual.
May we passionately seek him with all of ourselves. May our prayer be, “take my life Lord…”
Take my life, and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee;
take my moments and my days,
let them flow in ceaseless praise.
Take my hands, and let them move
at the impulse of thy love;
take my feet, and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.
Take my voice, and let me sing
always, only, for my King;
take my lips, and let them be
filled with messages from thee.
Take my silver and my gold,
not a mite would I withhold;
take my intellect, and use
every power as thou shalt choose.
Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
take my heart, it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.
Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store;
take my self, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.
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1 comment:
Jon, thanks for the thoughts... I've been thinking along the same lines to some degree lately. I've been trying to evaluate the things that I do. There are about a billion different things that I could do with each day. Why do I choose to do what I choose to do, thus leaving undone all the things I won't get to? What are the things that I should be getting to but I'm not? Are the things that I do really worthwhile, given the reality and number of the things that will be left undone?
Too often we just sit back and let life happen, finding that if we're not careful, all these decisions as to what we actually get to do, will be made for us by time, circumstance, and other people. That is a horrible way to live if we're claiming that we're living for God's glory. That's not living for God's glory... that's living for the god named 'Convenience' or 'Chance.' God is worth infinitely better than that, and I need to live like it!
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