Insightful Musings on the Scriptures

by

Raymond P. Sparre
Northwest University class of '67

Good morning, special people.

TIn the house, I just removed my soaked socks and shoes from my cold feet…as Becki and I did a walk/jog in the rain. Max didn’t seem to mind getting his feet wet.

Becki is about ready to put breakfast on the table before she runs off to an appointment at 9am…so I better send this and get back to the house.

May the Lord bless your “food and water” and anything else you need to do today.

Love, Dad/Ray.

I counted the phrase “DO NOT” 18 times in chapter 23. Unfortunately, that’s about all some people see in Biblical revelation—just a bunch of DO NOTs. You can’t do this, you can’t do that, you can’t do much of anything that’s fun!

The FOCUS VERSE above provides me with a bottom-line standard for lifting all these instructions above the un-fun drudgery of religious form and legalism. “Worship the LORD your God.” If it is true that the word “worship” carries the root meaning of “worth-ship,” then worship engages an attitude of heart that ascribes value or worth to the LORD and our relationship with Him—regarding Him as entirely worthy—of highest worth. That attitude of heart is shown to never become obsolete. For on the other end of the Biblical record, we witness an explosion of heart-level worship—“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being” (Revelation 4:11).

Question: Have we not, once again, given definition to a HEART AFTER GOD?

We are presented here with good reason to pray before meals from the heart—as opposed to just a religious tradition. “…and his blessing will be on your food and water.”