DAY 2: RETURNING TO OUR PLACE OF ORIGIN
We all reach for something. The Scriptures announce the awesome Creator who poured out His power to create the heavens and the earth and all that is in them. And the response is always praise. As God’s creation, we are to reach up and praise Him.
“Praise the Lord from the heavens, praise him in the heights above. Praise him, all his angels, praise him, all his heavenly hosts. Praise him, sun and moon, praise him, all you shining stars. Praise him, you highest heavens and you waters above the skies. Let them praise the name of the Lord, for he commanded and they were created. He set them in place for ever and ever; he gave a decree that will never pass away.” (Psalm 148:1-6)
“Praise the Lord from the earth, you great sea creatures and all ocean depths, lightning and hail, snow and clouds, stormy winds that do his bidding, you mountains and all hills, fruit trees and all cedars, wild animals and all cattle, small creatures and flying birds.” (Psalm 148:7-10)
As salmon fight up stream, up falling rivers, they strive to reach the place of their origin. That ought also to be our fight to reach the place of our Creator. The human spirit has the incredible ability to reach. The Fallen spirit, however, reaches for many wrong things.
First and foremost in our lives is the need to love God and worship Him. We are challenged by delivering on our appearance before man, while giving God the worn out hand-me-downs. We choose to fill the need in our hearts with temporal, fast-fleeting gratifications. They are but feeble attempts to reach for something more than a meager existence. But if we are to grow to become what God created us for, then we must return to our place of origin where true life begins. We must remember who God is and respond in praise. We cannot fulfill God’s good purposes from a distance. Above every need in this world, beyond every struggle in this difficult life, beneath every fall on hard times lies a Creator who not only created life, but sustains life, and gives new life for eternity.
Read: Colossians 1:15-20; John 15:4-5
To consider: What is the greatest resistive force you face when it comes to leading a life of worship? How well are you doing with the upstream struggle? How can you make worshiping God more of a reality in your everyday life? How has the centrality of Christ in your life given you a greater sense of peace and purpose?
