Ongoing Worship (Abide Devotion for November 30, 2015)

Revelation 4:1-8

^4:1After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” ² At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. ³ And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. ⁴ Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. ⁵ From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits ^w of God. ⁶ Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. ⁷ The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. ⁸ Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “ ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,’ who was, and is, and is to come.” ^[1]

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What is striking to me in this passage is the notion of continual praise. John says that the living creatures never stop praising God for His eternal holiness.

It’s easy to think of worship as a compartmentalized occasional activity. I worship on Sunday mornings, occasionally at other times. But this passage depicts worship as a continual non-stop activity of the heavenly beings. And heaven depicts perfectly the will of God. In other words, God wills continual worship.

But it’s also true that we routinely think of worship rather narrowly, that only that which is spoken or sung praise for God is truly worship. In Romans 12, Paul encourages us to have a broader view of worship, that living our lives dedicated to serving the Lord is also worship, a sacrificial offering of ourselves.

So what strikes me in this passage is its call to see my life as worship, and to live accordingly. We pray that God’s will be done on earth as in heaven, so my prayer is that the will of God regarding ongoing worship would be manifest on earth in my life. I pray that in my thoughts, words and deeds today, I may bring honor to my Lord.

What is the Word leading you to pray about today?

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^[1] The New International Version. (2011). (Re 4:1–8). Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan.