Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for he is our God and we are the people of his pasture… ~ Psalm 95:6-7a
When God created our world, he did it with the greatest care. He paid attention to the smallest detail. It shows in everything he made, from the tiny amoeba to the majestic blue whale, from the graceful giraffe to the playful spider monkey; from roses to redwood forests; from roaring waterfalls to soothing streams and all the way to the crown of his creation, humans.
And when we chose to disobey our Maker and run away from him (See Genesis 3), even then, the LORD‘s love endured. He planned to rescue us from the sin and death we chose for ourselves. No one was left out of his plan. He sent his Son, the sinless Son of God to become man: one sacrifice for every sinner of all time. With his blood, Jesus took away the sins of the world.
Now the same care and concern he has shown our world he has also shown you. He made you. He knit you together in your mother’s womb. All the days ordained for you were written in his book before one of them came to be. Lovingly, carefully, he put you together. Are you baptized? In baptism, God took what Jesus did for the world and gave it to you personally through faith. He forgave all your sin, the sin you were born with, the sins you have committed, even the sins you haven’t committed yet. Do you attend church services? Week after week, God offers you a feast of heavenly forgiveness through the good news of what Jesus has done for you, the way a shepherd feeds a hungry sheep.
Believers in Jesus may still feel as though we owe God something. But we don’t owe him a thing. Jesus already paid the full debt of our sin. We belong to the LORD. We are his people. If people at a football game have their faces painted in their team’s colors, you don’t have to tell them to cheer. It’s who they are. They just do it. Our hearts and lives are painted with the blood of Jesus, our Savior who has covered our sins. So, whether we are giving thanks in church or in our everyday life, worshiping God isn’t an obligation for us anymore. We are his people. It’s what we do.
Prayer: Dear LORD our Maker, we thank you for saving us from our sin. In everything we do, lead us to worship you with grateful hearts. Amen.
Living Hope Church 