You know, challenges happen in our lives continually which attempt to steer us away from the presence of the Lord. And no one is immune from the lure to fall short of the glory of God.
Consider Adam and Eve in the garden. They sinned, but God came after them. This was, I believe, an attempt to offer them a chance to return to unstrained fellowship with Him. The sin alone did not repel God from them, but their failure to acknowledge it and repent of it. The result was separation from the face of God. But notice; God came after them. Consider Romans 5:8, “but God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, the Messiah died for us.” Again, notice; God came after us.
Whenever we sin, God pursues us, not for vengeance or judgment, but for healing and restoration of communion. He desires our worship, not because He has an ego that needs to be puffed up, but our worship gives Him an opportunity to lavish His love upon us, and for us to lavish ours upon Him. He does this by drawing us toward Himself with His lovingkindness (Jeremiah 31:3). And in addition, Romans 2:4 says, “…the kindness of God leads you to repentance (NASB).” He has made a way for us through the vehicle of repentance in order to maintain sustained fellowship and unhindered worship. 1 John 1:9 says, “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Notice the word “all.” That means that there is NO sin too great that His love and power cannot remove. There is NO failure that He is unable to cleanse us from. All that remains is for us to confess it to Him and allow Him to do the cleansing. There is great vulnerability involved in this, but when we approach repentance with the understanding that He greatly desires us, deeply loves us, and desires to commune with us, repentance will take on a new dimension. How humbling it is to consider One who would go to such extremes simply to be with us. What an amazing God we serve!
Worship is the life-blood of our intimacy with the Father. God takes this issue very seriously and He will not be denied our worship, nor will He allow us to be denied fellowship with Him. And when we hunger for His presence, we will be willing to do all that is necessary to protect that fellowship. Lastly, Psalm 24:3-6 says, “Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? 4. He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully. 5. He shall receive blessing from the Lord, and righteousness from the God of his salvation. 6. This is Jacob, the generation of those who seek Him, who seek Your face. Selah.” God has prepared a remedy for that which stifles our worship and fellowship with Him and repentance is the applicator. So join me in presenting our bodies as living sacrifices to the Lord, which is our reasonable service of worship. And let nothing stand in your way as you live in His presence, as you seek His face, as you worship. Trust in His character and in His promises. And know this: He fights for your fellowship. He wars for your worship.
See you at the altar,
Greg