| – Caldwell Ministries – Loving God, Touching People, Changing Lives |
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THE OBEDIENCE OF WORSHIP I recently was reading in the book of Luke chapter 17, the story of when Jesus had healed ten men who had leprosy. It’s a very familiar passage of scripture. After the ten had cried out to Jesus to have pity on them, Jesus told them to go show themselves to the priests and they would be cleansed. Verse 14 says “As they went, they were cleansed.” I immediately thought of Jesus’ first miracle, when he turned water into wine. Mary had told the servants at the wedding, “Whatever he says, do it.” This set a principle into motion concerning many of the miracles that Jesus did. Obedience proceeds your miracle. The servants did what Jesus told them to do. The result, water was turned into wine. The ten with leprosy was obedient to what Jesus said. Their end result was healing. I could spend much more time on this principle, but I want to get to the worship. We all know the story of how out of the ten, only one came back to thank Jesus for what he had done. “One of them, when he saw that he was healed, came back, praising God in a loud voice. He threw himself at Jesus’ feet and thanked him, and he was a Samaritan.” Luke 17:15-16 An interesting thing happens in verses 17-19 when Jesus responds to the man’s thanks. Jesus asked, “Were not all ten cleansed? Where are the other nine? Was no one found to return and give praise to God except this foreigner? Then he said to him, “Rise and go; your faith has made you whole.” We know that according to John 4:23 God seeks true worshippers, yet in Luke 17 we find out that he is also aware of and notices those who do not praise and worship him. We do not know anything of the other nine, but the fact that Jesus calls attention to the one that returned was a foreigner leads us to believe that at least some of the other nine were Jews. This would indeed explain Jesus’ disappointment in the lack of praise, for what he had done, especially by his people. Oh, oh! Come on somebody! How many times do we as God’s people fail to praise him and give him thanks for what he has done in our lives? As a worship leader I sometimes fight frustration due to people who just refuse to worship the Lord in our church services. I choose not to focus on the ones who do not worship, and seek out the ones who are worshipping the Lord, I still notice the ones who do not worship. Luke 17:17-19 tells us that the Lord, seeks true worshippers, but also notices the lack of worship from his people as well. Psalm 100:2 tells us to “Worship the Lord with gladness.” Although God takes notice of those who do not worship, I believe miracles follow the obedience of those who choose to worship him. May God Bless You! |