If you had your life to do over, what would you do differently? Maybe you’d climb Mt. Kilimanjaro; or you’d hike the Appalachian Trail; or maybe you’d save more money. I don’t know what your item would be but most of us would do something different with at least one thing.
A survey was taken of folks across America who were in their 90s and asked the same question. Far and away, the top three answers were reflect more, risk more, and do things that outlive me more.
For those of us that love God and his son Jesus, most of us would respond to God more appropriately with our life. The writer of Psalms 100 gives us four ways we could be different in how we respond to God.
Verses 1-2 remind us to make a joyful noise and come before him with singing. With singing…but so many of us have excuses of why we can’t sing. I’ve heard some say, “I can’t carry a tune in a bucket.” But respectfully, I’d say, “Get over it.” Jesus calls us in Mark 12:30-31 to worship God with everything we have, bad vocals and all. I’m always amazed that some believe enthusiasm for the most worthy thing in the universe must be carefully contained. We are called to sing for all that God has done for us…give him praise and adoration for his mercy and grace.
Verse 2 reminds me to serve God gladly. We should respond to God with emotion but also with motion. Our very lives should reflect a servant heart for God and others as we strive to imitate Jesus in our life. Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 9 that God loves a cheerful giver. That word “cheerful” can be translated “hilarious”! That is how I want the world to think of me. I serve in ways that the world thinks is crazy…hilarious by their standards. I should serve God because of the life he’s given me.
Verse 3 reminds me to love God intelligently. The first word of the verse is “know” or “acknowledge”. Paul tells us in Romans 12 to be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And we are to know a couple of things about God. First, we should know his Lordship. Basically, He is God and you are not. You are his craftsmanship. You are a divine incident. Secondly, we should know his ownership. We are his people. And if you are a baptized believer, He paid for you with Jesus’ blood. Know who God is in your life.
Verses 4-5 tell me to thank God consistently. We come together on Sundays to worship, love, serve, and thank a wonderful Heavenly Father. But it doesn’t end on Sunday…it’s an every day affair. The Psalmist gives us three reasons why we should thank him: He’s a good, good Father, He’s merciful and He’s faithful to all his promises.
What if we decided to live every day in a worshipful posture to an almighty God? What if every day we worked at our job, loved on our spouse and kids, were good neighbors all as ways we worshiped our Heavenly Father? We are called as believers to worship him daily, serve him faithfully, love him completely, and thank him for everything He’s done for us. Blessings on the journey.