Seize the Moment – Day 919
The Rhythms and Responsibilities of Worship!
Good morning! This is Pastor Jerry Ingalls from New Castle First Baptist Church and today is Thursday, September 22.
Does your devotional life bring order and meaning to your life? In 1 Chronicles 23:30-32, David communicated clear expectations to the Levites:
They are to stand every morning to thank and to praise the Lord, and likewise at evening, and to offer all burnt offerings to the Lord, on the sabbaths, the new moons and the fixed festivals in the number set by the ordinance concerning them, continually before the Lord. Thus they are to keep charge of the tent of meeting, and charge of the holy place, and charge of the sons of Aaron their relatives, for the service of the house of the Lord.
It is important that we, like the Levites, have clear expectations upon the rhythms and responsibilities of our life of devotion to God. It is critical to know when we do, what we do – the rhythms of worship provide a framework for our lives. Equally essential, we need to know why we do what we do – the responsibilities of worship give meaning and purpose to those rhythms.
Knowing your rhythms and responsibilities of worship brings order and meaning to your life because we are shaped by that which we devote ourselves. I encourage you to write a “Rule of Life,” which serves as a trellis on which you can grow in Christ and bear fruit for His glory.[1] Jesus promised in John 15:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in Me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from Me you can do nothing.” When our devotional life becomes the framework of our lifestyles, then we are filled with the spiritual vitality that comes from abiding in the Vine of God’s love for us, regardless of our circumstances.
Seize the moment and develop your “rule of life” by journaling about your rhythms and responsibilities of worship – daily, weekly, monthly, seasonally, and annually.
God bless you!
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YOUTUBE:
If you prefer a video, Pastor Jerry reads his devotion on YouTube as well. Click HERE to visit the page.
FOOTNOTES:
[1] “Don’t be intimidated by the word rule. The word comes from the Greek for ‘trellis.’ A trellis is a tool that enables a grapevine to get off the ground and grow upward, becoming more fruitful and productive. In the same way, a Rule of Life is a trellis that helps us abide in Christ and become more fruitful spiritually. A Rule of Life, very simply, is an intentional, conscious plan to keep God at the center of everything we do. It provides guidelines to help us continually remember God as the Source of our lives. … The starting point and foundation of any Rule is a desire to be with God and to love him.” (Peter Scazzero, Emotionally Healthy Spirituality: It’s Impossible to be Spiritually Mature While Remaining Emotionally Immature. Updated Ed. [Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2017], 190).