GodReflection: Power Words

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the Lord our Maker; – Psalms 95:6

I have a tendency to think I am rather great as a card-carrying native citizen of the United States of America.

In addition, I learned well the lessons stamped on my parents as survivors of the Great Depression, the Dust Bowl, and their encounters with the horrors of World War II.  From their struggles against all odds, it was natural to implant in me the genes of independence and of confidence in my own ability.

We “Baby Boomers,” entered the world from 1946 through 1964. We are a self-reliant bunch. By virtue of my birth certificate originating just after the close of World War II, my genes may have more intense boomer traits. A lack of confidence was not strong in my gene pool.

As a Baby Boomer I may find myself able to produce but as a member of the human race and the family of Adam, I find myself destitute in my ability to be. A raw assessment of my goodness finds nothing worthy of standing in the presence of Creator God.

Only repentance makes worship possibly.

Repentance is more than a change of direction. It is more than a step toward salvation. It is a constant state of standing before God.

To repent is an ever-present awareness of the distance between God and me. He is perfect. I am sin-tainted.

It is in worship where at my deepest level repentance comes into overwhelming awe as to the gift of God’s perfect son so that I too—through his sacrificial blood—stand as perfect in the eyes of God.

The Worthy made possible for the unworthy to become worthy.

I am a descendant of the prodigal son of Jesus’ story in the Gospel of Luke.

Prior to repentance, the prodigal’s parties flowed with carelessness, wine, women, and frivolity.

His parties brought starvation.

To his surprise, repentance brought him into restored relationship with the Father.

My repentance brings me into the light of the Gracious Father from whom I receive the status of sonship.

The parties I throw for the God of Heaven are parties of worship fueled by repentance.

Worship results from repentance. It is not a once a week act. This sort of worship is a 24/7 state of mind and soul.

Thus, repentance should never be far from my lips as a word of power to guide my walk.

Stay tuned.

Dr. Gary J. Sorrells – A GodReflection on Repentance as a Power Word for Worship.

Gary@GodReflection.org