"In This Place - At This Time" Part I of III
For the next 3 postings, I will share a paper that I wrote a couple of years ago. I didn’t know where it was going when I started. I didn’t even know where it “came from.” I had never written anything like this in my life. The whole thought process and subject matter was new to me (or so I thought at the time.)
I recently listened (again) to an audio book version of A.W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God.” Chapter 10 is titled, “The Sacrament of Living.” When I heard it (again) it came to me that this is where my paper came from, or at least was the inspiration for it. Mine is but an “eyelash” in comparison to Tozer’s great work, but it is mine…
In This Place - At This Time
The most wonderful thing in the world to do, the highest goal for a Christian, would be “continual worship;” to be able to worship God 24/7. Indeed, we were created for God’s pleasure (Rev. 4:11b) and brought to salvation to worship Him. (John 4:23-24) By “worship” that would mean prayer, devotions or meditations and Bible study.
However, we were also created to “dwell” in this place, at this time. And in order to “dwell,” there are other things that must be done. We must eat. We must sleep. We must take a bath and do laundry. We must see to the needs of our bodies. We must make and keep doctors and dentist appointments. We must take care of a “dwelling place” and transportation.
In other words, we must do “regularly, scheduled maintenance” of and for this, our “temple of the Holy Spirit” as well as all these other “temples” that have been entrusted to our care, whether they be our children or our parents who rely on us.
That maintenance has a literal price. It costs “currency” to pay for the items of maintenance - food, homes, and personal needs. In order to create the currency for these needs, we must do something to produce income. We must exchange our knowledge and/or abilities for money. Therefore, a portion of our time and attention must be directed toward “production.”
Thus we have worship, maintenance, and production that makes up our existence while we dwell in this place, at this time.
If we have been created and brought to salvation solely to worship God, the question then becomes, how do we either incorporate worship into maintenance and/or production, or how do we allow worship to permeate all of maintenance and all of production?
To be continued tomorrow…
Betty
©September 3, 2003
I recently listened (again) to an audio book version of A.W. Tozer’s “The Pursuit of God.” Chapter 10 is titled, “The Sacrament of Living.” When I heard it (again) it came to me that this is where my paper came from, or at least was the inspiration for it. Mine is but an “eyelash” in comparison to Tozer’s great work, but it is mine…
In This Place - At This Time
The most wonderful thing in the world to do, the highest goal for a Christian, would be “continual worship;” to be able to worship God 24/7. Indeed, we were created for God’s pleasure (Rev. 4:11b) and brought to salvation to worship Him. (John 4:23-24) By “worship” that would mean prayer, devotions or meditations and Bible study.
However, we were also created to “dwell” in this place, at this time. And in order to “dwell,” there are other things that must be done. We must eat. We must sleep. We must take a bath and do laundry. We must see to the needs of our bodies. We must make and keep doctors and dentist appointments. We must take care of a “dwelling place” and transportation.
In other words, we must do “regularly, scheduled maintenance” of and for this, our “temple of the Holy Spirit” as well as all these other “temples” that have been entrusted to our care, whether they be our children or our parents who rely on us.
That maintenance has a literal price. It costs “currency” to pay for the items of maintenance - food, homes, and personal needs. In order to create the currency for these needs, we must do something to produce income. We must exchange our knowledge and/or abilities for money. Therefore, a portion of our time and attention must be directed toward “production.”
Thus we have worship, maintenance, and production that makes up our existence while we dwell in this place, at this time.
If we have been created and brought to salvation solely to worship God, the question then becomes, how do we either incorporate worship into maintenance and/or production, or how do we allow worship to permeate all of maintenance and all of production?
To be continued tomorrow…
Betty
©September 3, 2003
posted by Betty Newman at 6:59 AM
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