It is so easy to be caught up in the wonderful worship and praise that is everywhere on YouTube and the like. Likewise, the great teaching and preaching that is available is truly amazing and one has to admit, despite the huge amount of rubbish that is published, there is also a great deal of fantastic material on the web today compared to what we had prior the net. Yet it can also be a distraction to what the Lord really wants of us.
James 2:23 calls us "friends of God" indicating a type of relationship the Lord truly desires with us. When I think of a friend, I think of someone who spends quality time with me and who is interested in me. God is definitely interested in us, He has proven this by going to the cross for our sins, but are we wanting to be friends with Him? In addition Paul in 2Cor 11:2 indicates that we are indeed called the Bride of Christ and are to be presented to the Bridegroom as pure. This gives us a glimpse of the depth of intimacy we have with our coming Bridegroom.
Over and over again we are called to be a Holy Priesthood in scripture, that is those who are both before God and the People, see Joel's example of the porch and the altar. And so anything that takes away from this time of intimacy and service before the Lord can in effect become a distraction or even an idol.
When we visit churches today, the overwhelming response or thing we notice the most is just how few people are involved in the services. That is, the services are generally designed to accommodate an audience or a crowd rather than being a place where the whole body together is actively engaged in the service and playing or contributing their part. This I believe is the greatest travesty in the Church of the 21st Century. We have lost our opportunity to engage and even if we are to say that the service is not necessarily the place for this, the question I would ask is why not? Why have we made service for those who are "professionals" or those employed?
As I see it, we who are the body of Christ are called to an intimate relationship with our Lord and play an active role in outworking God's plan on the earth whether it be when we are together or in our homes. We must comeback to the place we once knew, of depth and overwhelming love with our Lord and remove those obstacles which hinder this.
Let me close by saying whether it be in our services or on the net there is lot's of great stuff to consume, but it is our personal one on one time that the Lord truly wants from each of us. Let's Remember that!
God Bless
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