“This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouths, and honoreth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. But in vain they do worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men.”
–Matthew 15:8-9

Last Christmas my wife and I took a vacation in Prescott, Arizona. On the afternoon of Christmas Eve I turned to my wife and said, “Why don’t we do something out of the ordinary? Let’s have spaghetti at midnight and really ring in Christmas!” My wife loves eating out, so she agreed. At 11:30 that night we went to a 24-hour restaurant and had their spaghetti, a traditional favorite selection for us. We then went back to our hotel room and opened our Christmas presents before climbing into bed at about 3 AM. It was a wonderful start to our Christmas morning.

My wife and I like to do things that are out of the ordinary, so that our love doesn’t grow cold or settle into a routine. In the same way, if we don’t work on our relationship with God, it will become lifeless, and more like a duty than anything. But the best way we can work on our relationship with God is by letting Him work on our hearts. We often worship God with our lips when our hearts are cold towards him. We need to ask God to thaw out our hearts. We need to sing songs of praise to Him that come spontaneously from our hearts. Rather than dwelling on externals, or following manmade rules,

we need to freely draw closer and closer to God, asking for His will in all things. In other words, we need to leave our comfort zones and ask God to fill our lives with joyful worship.

Worshipping God should always be just as joyful as it was when you first got to know Him. Men and women always love going out on special dates and giving notes and flowers to each other, but once the routine of life takes hold after marriage, some people take their spouses for granted. The Bible says that all of us need to come back to our first love, so instead of taking God for granted, maybe we need to worship as we did upon recieving God’s love.

God has initiated a relationship with us by sending His son to die for our sins, and having him rise again on the third day. He told us that we were to live lives that were out of the box, lives of service, which are concerned with the needs around us. Too often, though, we are only concerned with our own needs, and we live to fulfill the expectations of others, rather than patterning our expectations according to God’s plan. My question to all of us is: What would it take to get us to live joyful and extraordinary lives of worship for God?

My friends, I urge you to revitalize your moments of worship. Your lives won’t become boring or routine if you fill them with God’s love, and try to live lives of praise to Him in all that you do.

Thank you for reading this, and may the Lord give you a wonderful week! We are trying to reach people who are hurting, so if God lays it on your heart, please consider becoming a partner with us. If you would like to make a donation, please visit www.hcmachaplains.org and click on the Donate Now link. You may also send your donation to HCMA (Healthcare Chaplains Ministry Association). Our ID number is 560. The address is 377 E. Chapman Ave., Suite 260, Placentia, CA 92870.

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