NOV 6

Amos 5:21-23
Memorise Proverbs 15:8
“The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord”

The words of the passage taken from Amos 5:21-23 shows clearly that God, who is holy, expects to be worshipped in a reverential way that is honouring and pleasing to Him. He deplores false worship. It is all too easy to fall into the trap of thinking that whatever we do in worship would be acceptable to God if it is done out of love and sincerity. Likewise, it is foolish to assume that God is pleased with us approaching Him irreverently just because what we are doing seems acceptable according to our modern cultural norms.

Sincerity can be wrong and love misplaced if not guided by biblical principles. In fact, our God is a consuming fire and instead of pleasing Him, we can expect to incur His disapproval or even wrath if we are not careful with the way we approach Him. This is something which two of Aaron’s sons named Nadab and Abihu sadly found out to their own destruction. In Numbers 3:4, they offered “strange fire” before the Lord and died as a result. This is because the fire that they offered was deemed to be unholy. They had displeased the Lord through their failure to strictly follow God’s instructions pertaining to worship. This shows that not only is worship important to God, the manner in which we worship God is just as important to Him.

We sometimes think of God as someone who is just like our best friend. We think we can be casual about the way we treat Him because He loves us and will disregard the few little liberties we take in the manner with which we come to Him in worship and prayer. While it is not wrong to regard Jesus as a friend whom we can always trust, He is far more than that. He is also our Creator and not a mere creature. He is Lord and not just a leader. He is our Saviour and not just someone who did us a favour. We must understand that He is infinitely different from all the other creatures under His charge and the only way we should approach Him, is the way He has shown us according to His Word.

Thought: Do I allow the things of the world to occupy and dominate my mind when I am spending time with God?
Prayer: O God, teach us to fear Thee, not with the fear of heathens, but with reverential fear as Thy blood-bought children.