English Church of Midi Pyrénées & Aude

Thought for the Week

15 June 2008 – Fourth Sunday after Trinity

Collect:	O God, the protector of all who trust in you, without whom nothing is strong, nothing is holy: increase and multiply upon us your mercy; that with you as our ruler and guide we may so pass through things temporal that we lose not our hold on things eternal; grant this, heavenly Father, for our Lord Jesus Christ’s sake, who is alive and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. *Amen*.
Readings:	Exodus 19 v 2 – 8a
	Psalm 100
	Romans 5 v 1 – 8
	Matthew 9 v 35 - 10 v 8

Here are some words which our Lord God loves to hear and which put a smile on his face (Psalm 100):

Be joyful in the Lord, all you lands;

serve the Lord with gladness

and come before his presence with a song.

2 Know this: The Lord himself is God;

he himself has made us and we are his;

we are his people and the sheep of his pasture. R

3 Enter his gates with thanksgiving;

go into his courts with praise;

give thanks to him and call upon his name.

4 For the Lord is good; his mercy is everlasting;

and his faithfulness endures from age to age.

Do these words stir you? Do they mean anything to you? Do you find them an expression of your worship to God?

God loves to hear these words. He loves it when you say them. Throughout the Bible we see God seeking to establish a relationship with his people. An example of this is the reading from the book of Exodus that we had today.

The reading from EXODUS describes a time just before God wants to make a covenant with the people of Israel. God reminded the Israelites of what he had brought them through. The kind of God he was. How he had delivered them from slavery and was now taking them to a promised land. That was God’s part of the agreement. The Israelites were then being asked to respond and obey God in all ways and honour the agreement. In return God would make the people his treasured possession, a special people. ‘You will be my people and I will be your God’. If they did this he would bless them and all mankind.

They were being called to WORSHIP God in every aspect of their lives.

BUT, look at verses 10 -12. They had to cleanse themselves and they were not allowed to come too close. God set limits as to how close they could come.

What a contrast in ROMANS 5 v 2, where we can gain access through faith into the presence of God. We can have peace with God through Jesus Christ.

It is the BASIS and our STATUS with God. Because of this we can now stand in a completely different relationship with God. Like the people of Israel we are called to obey God always and this time acknowledge his NEW covenant with us.

But why? Why is God so keen on these covenants? Why does God seek a relationship with us?

Because we were planned for God’s pleasure.

God created you to do the only thing he cannot do for himself, WORSHIP.

Worship is bringing enjoyment to God, living for his pleasure. It is the first, and most important PURPOSE of your life.

You are a child of God and you bring pleasure to him like nothing else that he has created.

Bringing pleasure to God is called WORSHIP. Anything that you do that brings pleasure to him is an act of WORSHIP. It is not limited to our time together on a Sunday.

When we worship, our goal is to bring pleasure to God.

Worship is not just a PART of our lives, it IS our lives. This is where you will find fulfilment in your lives.

By commiting to God in the desert and making a covenant with him the lives of the Israelite people were going to be changed. The same is true for us.

The difference is that the people of Israel soon forgot the covenant and turned away from God. Today we have the Holy Spirit to help us, even when times are difficult.

In the Bible we read of people praising God at work, at home, in battle, in jail and even in bed. King David said in the psalms, ‘I will praise the Lord at all times. Do everything to glorify God’.

HOW? By doing everything as though you were doing it for Jesus and conversing with him throughout the day.

Romans 12 v 1: I urge you, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God, which is your spiritual worship.

Take your everyday life, your sleeping, eating, being at home, going to school, going to work and living generally and place it before God as an offering. Involve God in everything you do. It’s a bit like falling in love.

When I fell in love with my wife I was constantly thinking about her whilst;

Eating breakfast
Driving to work
At college
Away on holiday

In fact, day and night.

Jesus invites us to fall in love with him.

God has shown us what he is like. Remember in the book of Romans it says ‘We have peace with God through Jesus. God showed his love for us, while we were sinners, Christ died for us’. God seeks a response from us. Your life will never be fulfilled until you live your life in a way that is pleasing to God. You were made for this purpose. To WORSHIP God

In response, make these words your words