During this time of social distancing, our beloved pastors have been sharing videos with personal reflections to encourage us spiritually during this chaotic time. This morning one of our pastors encouraged us to use this time wisely out of love for Christ. Whatever we do with any extra time on our hands, let us use the time to worship Christ. As I spent some time thinking through this exhortation and how to apply it in my life right now, I decided to use this blog as a place to reflect on what God is teaching me in my devotional time with Him through the Word. I am by no means a Biblical scholar, so I am sure there will be things I share that need correction, but I welcome that because I love the Lord and my desire is to know Him and to make Him known. I believe that a key ingredient to fulfill that desire is understanding and applying the truth of His Word in my life.
This morning, I was reading chapters 11 and 12 of Genesis. These are two chapters of the Bible that I have read often in my Christian life, but still something stood out that I had not noticed before. Chapter 11 recounts the story of the Tower of Babel, where the people try to build a tower to reach to the heavens. God puts an end to it by confusing their language resulting in the scattering of the people around the world. What's so bad about building a tower? I encourage my three year old to build towers a lot. She loves it. She builds it as tall as she can and then she knocks it down. But, is this passage saying we should not be towers. I believe the problem is found in verse 4, "...let us make for ourselves a name." So, then I thought maybe the problem is not with building towers but making a name for yourself.
In chapter 12, God calls Abram to serve Him and promises him, "...[I] will make your name great." This made me stop in my tracks. What? A great name? Isn't this why God dispersed the people in the last chapter? Abram obeys God and leaves, following Him towards the land of Canaan. Twice, he stops and builds an altar to God. Having a great name is not the problem. The problem is the motivation. Abram did not seek the name itself. He sought the Lord. He followed Him wherever He led and worshiped Him along the way. The people who sought to build a great tower, on the other hand, worshiped themselves not God.
The big takeaway from these two chapters for me is that worship is a matter of the heart not the externals. The external (a great name) is in itself neither right nor wrong. The motivation can either be from a heart of self-worship as in the Babel-builders or from a heart of God-worship as in Abram. What does this mean practically? Well, if I write, may it be for the glory of God. If I homeschool, may it be for the glory of God. If I teach, may it be for the glory of God. Satan is so crafty and sneaks in wherever he can with the temptation to make a name for ourselves. Let us fight against that with the power of the Holy Spirit that we may know God and make Him known. May He receive all the glory and the honor and the power!
Till next time!
No comments:
Post a Comment