One day, I saw a bumper sticker which read: “Exercise daily-walk with the Lord…” This seems like an apt topic to finish off our series on true worship. What does it mean to “walk with the Lord”? Your walk with the Lord is your relationship with Him. The way you worship will largely determine the way you walk with Him. Are you running ahead of Him, or are you so far behind that you can’t seem Him anymore?
An ancient Jewish Rabbinical blessing goes something like this: “May you walk in the dust of your Rabbi!” To walk in someone’s dust means you have to be walking just behind that person i.e. following close on his heels. Jesus explained this to His disciples in John 13:16 when He said that no servant is greater than his Lord. You cannot walk next to the Rabbi for you will never be His equal. You cannot run ahead of Him because He alone can lead the way as you journey through life’s uncharted territory. True worship comes in taking the posture of discipleship by following close on the Rabbi’s heels; He is the light and without Him you will be walking in darkness. Let Him light up the road that lies ahead so that you can pass safely. (John 8:12, John 1:9, 2Pet 1:17-19, Ps 119:105)
We know all about reverence in the sanctuary and bringing gifts to the altar. These are important aspects of true worship. However, true worship is not situational-it does not occur only in the sanctuary. The Psalmist echoes it perfectly in Ps 63 when he says that his longing to worship God grows because of his personal encounter with Him in the sanctuary (Ps 63:1-2). His sanctuary experience translates into a longing to shadow the Lord, “following hard after Him” (v8). Sadly, in many churches there is a lack of emphasis on this crucial aspect of true worship. If our worship is not revolutionizing and transforming our lives and making us more like Christ, then it is not true worship!
There is an old saying: “By beholding, you are changed.” I believe the Bible echoed this sentiment long before the secular author of this saying. In 2 Cor 3:18 it states that by beholding the glory of God, we are transformed by His Spirit into His image and likeness. How is the glory of God revealed to us? It is through the life of Christ, the visible representation of the invisible God, that the glory is revealed! Therefore, we must behold the life of Christ and meditate upon its scenes. Only then can we be changed. Only then can our worship be true, faithful and meaningful not just to us, but to the watching world as well! We can no longer pay lip service and pretend to be “holy” in church yet live our lives any way we please as soon as we leave the sanctuary. Those who desire to truly worship God and attain a place of honour in His Kingdom must be closest to the Rabbi. His yoke must become their yoke, His passion their passion and His work their work! (Matt 11:29)
Being close to the Rabbi means being totally covered by the dust from His sandals. Our lives must be modeled on the life of Christ. Let us take our worship to the streets-let us walk in the dust of our Rabbi, Jesus Christ!
