Object of worship

1 Corinthians 12:1-11

Have you known people who were gifted with good looks, talent, intelligence, and the ability to lead others?  Many would call this natural talent or a gifted person, but I’ve observed such people and some have been seekers of God and others have been seekers of self. 

Much of my younger days in middle school and high school I was drawn to guys who had a lot going for them, and they became my object of worship.  Now if anyone had told me that they were an idol in my life I would have thought them to be crazy.  But looking back on my foolish actions, it’s clear I looked to them, I went with them and followed their lead.  Is that not what one does when engaging in worship? 

We must always go back to we choose, yes, it was a choice, and yes, I had   options but like a puppy, I was led, or as this verse states; “Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however, you were led.” 

Don’t you find the word pagan offensive?  Does it not insult anyone who does not acknowledge the God of the Bible?  But it matters not for God has rightly stated that one like me seeking to get my needs met outside of Christ is placing self in the place that is reserved for God alone.  But God is faithful and merciful and allowed me to keep being lead into the lifeless life, and yet always gave me enough light to know I was on the wrong road, money but not peace, happiness but no joy, and all that this pagan was worshipping left an only emptiness.   

As a Baptist, I proclaimed Jesus as Lord, but it was only empty words, for nothing in my life gave support to such a claim, empty words coming from an empty life.  But God, I love those words, for Jesus saw a frightened little boy trying to be a man, and one night in a hotel room after reading and agreeing that my life needed to know the Jesus I was only informed about, I bowed my knee to His will and ask Jesus to come and live in me.

I was not perfect, I was a long way from that and that holds true today, but I was changed, I knew Jesus was Lord, and my actions are in line for He is the source of my worship.  I’m learning that in this body we call the church, there are varieties of gifts, but one Lord, and one Spirit. 

So let us close with these thoughts: “Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills.”

From the Back Porch,

Bob Rice