reckless abandon

A few weeks ago I had a great honor of speaking at my church about worship and what it looks like as a lifestyle, our identity as worshipers of God. The few weeks leading up to that day were amazing in everything that the Lord was showing me, teaching me and letting me experience. I can't begin to express how often worship is on my heart and how big of a desire I have for all of us to come into full realization of what true worship is.

When I was sharing about what I had been learning, I said something to the effect that every day belongs to the Lord and we should begin our day in worship by sacrificing our will, desire, and expectations of that day and say, "Today is yours, Lord." A dear woman of God, who I respect and admire tremendously, approached me afterward with ample excitement.  She had been reading Isaiah 11:3 which says, "He will delight in the fear of the Lord, and He will not judge by what His eyes see, nor make a decision by what His ears hear." She had asked the Lord earlier that day or that week, "What does it mean to delight in the fear of the Lord?" and she continued to tell me that when I said,  to offer every day as a sacrifice before the Lord, it had answered her question. So, she thanked me for answering her question, and I thanked her for revealing what it is to delight in the fear of the Lord!

For a while now, probably since I was in middle school, I had read passages about the fear of the Lord, and I would ask repeatedly for the Lord to teach me and show me what the fear of the Lord was. It was great to hear her revelation and her encouraging words, which I often hear from her. This new revelation hit me in a hard way. It made me think further and further still, that I didn't fully understand what I had taught. It never even crossed my mind that it was tied into the fear of the Lord. I know it was tied in with honor and with purity, but it blew me away and took me off guard to hear that it had to do with the fear of the Lord.

The Lord reminded me recently about what I did a few years ago when I was really struggling with keeping my focus on the Lord. The majority of the issue was that my mind was consumed with wanting to get married, finding a wife, looking for a suitable mate, what have you. I grew tired off every waking thought being, "Who should I marry?","I would date her.","Do I see myselff marrying her?", etc., etc., ETC. Suffice it to say, it was ridiculous.  So, I made a decision and I said to the Lord, "I am only going to pursue you for now, wholeheartedly, with everything I have. I will seek no other but You."

When I was reminded of this, the Lord showed me that this is delighting in the fear of the Lord. At the time, it was a conditional and limited confession. But, I now see that this is how the Lord wants us to act everyday. For every waking thought to be His every waking thought, to take up our cross and follow Him every day, to offer our body as a living sacrifice every day, to completely and utterly surrender everything we are to Him. Not only is this our identity as worshipers, but it's the fear of the Lord, and how to delight in the fear of the Lord.

I guess the most valuable object or thing the Lord has given us, beside Himself, would be time. It was given to us freely along with our life, but unlike the eternal life we've inherited, our time is limited. I cannot think or conceive a better notion of worship or sacrifice of praise other than to take the days we have numbered to us and completely waste them on God. What better gift, to the Lord, than us? He gave us life to live alongside Him, then we lost it and then He sent His Son to get it back. Why? Because He freaking loves us so dang much. So, what better gift, hmm? than to give him what he wants so much for? You and me. The End.