Blessing God

|Catfish|
I put a lot of my eggs in this basket: total depravity. There are a lot of intelligent writings and convincing arguments for total depravity, but I believe it based on something else - my own inability. As I mature as a Christian (stop laughing - I know I'm just a guppy), I continually see the gap between me and God spread wider and wider. He's holy. I'm depraved. He's really holy. I'm really depraved. He's really really...etc. I think you see where I'm going. As God reveals himself to me, I become continually more aware of my inability to be like him without intervention by him.

Sunday, the sermon was about authentic worship. A quote, "Worship is about me blessing God, not about God blessing me." What? What can I do to bless God? What does he lack that I can show up Sunday morning and give him? If I'm totally depraved of anything good apart from God, the only thing good I have to give him is what he's given me already. Worship isn't about me...I think this was well put on Sunday. It's not about my preferences, my taste, my desires, my anything. But how is it about God if there's nothing I can do for him? WHAT DOES HE WANT FROM ME?

|Gospel|
For God so loved the world, he gave his only son. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. God doesn't want me to show up and sing the loudest, give the most, kneel at the front the longest, pray the hardest, raise my hands, or close my eyes in order to bless him. Instead, I think God wants us to come to worship as a community to communally admit our depravity, and to allow Him through the community of believers to heal and bless us through the forgiveness of the Messiah and by the power of the Holy Spirit.

This is an ongoing process in my mind. Maybe you process on this too, and have comments. Maybe you've never thought about it, and have comments. Maybe you should comment!