Moved to Worship

When Samuel looked at Eliab, he imagined the anointed of the LORD stood before him.  God immediately corrected the erroneous thinking of the prophet who was impressed by Eliab's good looks and physical height, for God does not see as man sees--focused on the outer appearance--but looks upon the heart.  God easily recognised pride that hid behind a humble fascade and selfishness, arrogance and fear of man that disqualified him to be considered a man after God's own heart.  Hebrews 4:12 explains the piercing nature of God's word:  " For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart."  Man's secret motives, thoughts, unbelief and faith are clearly seen by God.

For our benefit the Bible often reveals the motivation of people like in Matthew 14:14 that reads, "And when Jesus went out He saw a great multitude; and He was moved with compassion for them, and healed their sick."  It was compassion that moved Jesus to go to sick and diseased people, and His divine power and authority was revealed by miraculously healing them.  Though the disciples saw Jesus do wondrous things beyond reckoning, they told Jesus what He ought to do in the following verse:  "When it was evening, His disciples came to Him, saying, “This is a deserted place, and the hour is already late. Send the multitudes away, that they may go into the villages and buy themselves food."  We are not explicitly told the motivation of the disciples to come to Jesus and offer their suggestions.  Perhaps they felt they were being considerate of the needs of the people, yet Jesus would have been better served by coming to Him and asking what Jesus would have them do.

Jesus was moved by compassion the disciples lacked, and He also had power and a plan they never considered.  They sought to send the people away because of their limited resources and inability to provide sufficient food for hungry people, yet they did not consider Jesus could or would do anything for them.  At that moment they did not consider Jesus is the Creator of all things who knew the needs of all people and could supply them.  Even after Jesus fed 5,000 men plus women and children with 5 loaves and 2 fish miraculoulsy multiplied in His hands, it seems the enormity of what they witnessed and experienced was lost on them--even after gathering up 12 large baskets of food scraps.  This notable miracle did not even elicit them to worship Him because it was done so simply and naturally.  In time they would come to realise Jesus blessing and breaking the bread pointed to His own sacrifice on Calvary, and they would be partakers of His life by receiving Hin by faith.

Knowing who Jesus is and all He has done ought to be a motivating factor in our lives to be praying, serving, giving and loving others as Jesus loves us.  Like Mary exhorted the disciples to do whatever Jesus said, it is good for us to look to Jesus for guidance and strength to do God's will.  Having been born again, Christians can be moved by the Holy Spirit and the fear of God to obey like Noah in Hebrews 11:7:  "By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith."  As we are moved by faith in God, let us consider how God's plans and purposes are greater than we could imagine.  Seeing God work in our lives and in this world ought to prompt us to obey and joyfully worship Him with wonder.