Worship God Through Faithfulness

Scripture

Our verse for today comes from Acts 20:10, ” But Paul went down, fell on him, and embracing him said, ‘Do not trouble yourselves, for his life is in him.’ “

Background

If you’ve been to a church service, one of two things has happened. Either you have fallen asleep, or you have seen someone fall asleep. The factors that contribute to the slumber can vary greatly, but rest assured that few services have taken place where someone of some age has not nodded off at some point. Now picture the exhausted party falling over, the familiar look of their head bent forward on their chest, even to the point of eventually laying out right on the floor. One would be hard pressed to completely ignore the distraction and carry on as if nothing had happened. If a bobbing head in the pew can receive a friendly elbow or two to rustle up the drowsy offender, certainly someone sleeping on the church floor during the service would warrant attention. But what if it didn’t? What if the speaker continued on as if everything was completely normal? What if Paul, who witnessed one of his young listeners fall asleep and fall out of a third floor window to his death, simply kept on with his sermon? Worse yet, what if everyone else in the room ignored the crisis, too? Could someone outside the meeting house witness the boy fall to the ground, expect the crowd to rush out to attend to the young man, wait and wait while no help came, and make sense of the situation? If the passer-by knew that the gathering was in the name of Jesus, would that explain and justify the indifference, or would it only intensify his horror and dismay?

Application

We’re not in church all day, every day. But we are always ambassadors for Christ. Unfortunately, our routines and schedules for our own personal form of Christianity can too often get in the way of the ministries and needs that present themselves when we least expect them. We bristle at change, we avoid the unknown, and we jealously guard our patterns and preferences. But if someone falls out of the window, so to speak, while you’re doing your worship thing, how will you choose to glorify the One you claim to follow?

Charge

As we seek Him today, ask God to lift your head up to see how to worship Him in ways that speak to His amazing love for every single human. Don’t let your faith get in the way of being faithful.