The Moral Imperative

I began reading through an old A.W. Tozer classic The Purpose of Man and found it refreshingly packed with thought-provoking and enlightening content.  There are useful books beyond number, and it is a shame any which adorn our shelves should collect dust.  In lieu of buying new books it is a good practice to reacquaint yourself with quality books which already line your shelves.  And when you have read them, have you taken to heart and put into practice the good points personally?  My, there is much work to be done!

Allow me to treat you with a few paragraphs from a man who met with God, A.W. Tozer concerning worship:

I believe in justification by faith as strongly as Martin Luther ever did.  I believe that we are only saved by faith in the Son of God as Lord and Savior.  But what concerns me is an automatic quality about being saved nowadays.  It works something like this: simply put a nickel of faith in the slot, pull down a lever and take out the little coin of salvation, tuck it in your pocket and off you go.  It is that simple.  After that, you say you are saved.  When questioned, you simply say, "I put the nickel in; I accepted Jesus and I signed the card."  Very good, there is nothing wrong with signing a card so that we can know who they are.  It is the only way we know that some people are Christians.  How tragic.

Christianity is not a result of coming to God and becoming an automatic cookie-cutter Christian, stamped out with a die: "One size fits all"; "What God has done for others He'll do for you."  These are marvellous mottoes with grain of truth in them, tut they lead us far from the absolute truth.  We come to Christ so that we might be individually redeemed and made in the image of Christ - vibrant, personal Christians who love God with all our heart and worship Him in the beauty of holiness.

Not only is worship the normal employment for moral beings, but worship is also the moral imperative.  The book of Luke tells us that when they came nigh the mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen (see Luke 19:37)...Worship is a moral imperative, and yet I believe that it is the missing jewel in evangelical circles.  The crown is here but the jewels are missing.  The church has decked herself with every ornament, but one shining gem is missing - the jewel of worship. (“What Came First: Workers or Worshippers?” The Essential Tozer Collection, by A. W. Tozer and James L. Snyder, Bethany House, 2017, pp. 98–100.)

Is it possible in all our labours we have missed the moral imperative of the worship of God, substituting work for worship?  It is possible our work is worship unto the LORD, but this is not automatic.  Worship and work are far from synonymous.  Many people work, but not all work is worship.  Worship for the child of God is a good work free from fleshly toil because it is the inclination of every redeemed soul.  Let us worship the LORD in the beauty of His holiness!  Magnifying His goodness and meditating on His greatness is never out of tune when it flows from a surrendered heart.