The Wonder of Worship

What is it that is magical about the lights on Christmas trees, candlelight, the song "Silent Night," the first snow fall, ...? I think it is a combination of things. It brings to mind the sense of sacred awe we felt as children when faced with these things for the first time.
It is that sense of privilege that we have when we are allowed to attend our first midnight candle-light service as a child: replete with the excitement of staying up REALLY long past your bedtime; knowing that Christmas is tomorrow and the mystery of what lies under that tree; the beauty of the candles, starlight and snowfall reflecting the Christmas lights that give that image of that "Little Town in Bethlehem" and the beauty of the baby born there, hidden away in that stable. And to your little mind then, the world seems to be just about perfect. The fight you had with your brother, the spanking you got yesterday, and the distress you felt when you heard mom and dad yelling at each other that morning ...all vanish...and you feel a sense of peace, delight, and excitement.
To me, I think some of that awe, peace, and joy is what we will feel as we step over the threshold into heaven...for those of us that are going there. This, this childish awe and wonder, is how God meant us to be ALWAYS....And I think it is how Adam and Eve felt ALL THE TIME...as they explored the beautiful garden of God. As they examined discovery after discovery, their hearts thrilled with the understanding of just how much they were loved. I am feeling some of this wonder now, as Handel's Hallelujah Chorus just came on my iPod. God is on His throne: King of kings and Lord of lords! Hallelujah!

Folks, we were made to worship.

People don't like that idea now, because it means inherently, the admission that something or someone greater than ourselves exists in this world. But honestly, with my hands raised toward heaven, singing with all my might, and tears coming at the beauty of my God...nothing in the world could feel better than that. That is what I was created to do ...

And the awe of the silent wonder that comes when we consider the Christ child coming to this earth...that KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS, coming to a dirty stable in the helpless wrapping of an infant...growing up to die....for me... That too, is what we were made to know...How very very much we are loved and adored by the Maker of the ends of the earth.

And the wonder of it all will dumbfound us when we finally, in His Kingdom, begin to understand the full impact of that. And the awe I felt as a five or six year old, holding my candle in it's paper holder watching that spark ignite into flame, surrounded by the strains of O Holy Night: that is just a slight inkling of what we'll experience in Heaven when surrounded by a sea, thousands upon thousands of worshipers, as we lift our hearts and hands to worship the King as he enters and sits on his throne.

We were made to worship.