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Someone said that whereas God warned the ancient Hebrews not to have any gods except him, today he would rebuke our society for having no god at all. But the first of the Ten Commandments doesn’t say, “Be sure to have a god.” Instead, the sense is, “Be sure to have the right God.”
We human beings are incurably religious. Everyone worships something or someone. There are no exceptions to this rule. Human life and worship are as inseparable as sun and light. There is no such thing as a pure atheist. If we don’t worship the Lord Jesus, we’ll worship money, a house, a reputation, some movie or music star (as in, “American Idol”), or something else. As we celebrate Jesus today, let’s rejoice not merely that we’re worshiping, but that we’re worshiping the right God! Pastor Tom
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“Then he said, ‘Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom’” (Luke 23:42).
In the gospel accounts, everyone who spoke up during the crucifixion reviled Jesus—except for one person—the repentant thief on the cross. After insulting our Lord, this thief changed his mind and said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” Why didn’t the Jewish religious leaders say that? Because they would have had to take Jesus down from the cross to prove their repentance, and their pride wouldn’t let them do that. Surprisingly, the dying thief knew more about worship than the scribes and Pharisees did. He alone reached out to Jesus as his gracious, loving, and personal King. Unlike the dying thief, we don’t have to ask Jesus to remember us, but we can ask him to help us remember him as our gracious, loving, and personal King. To get the most out of our worship today, let’s follow this man’s humble example. |
AuthorPastor Tom is the Senior Pastor at First Baptist Church of Dinuba. He has been serving here for over 30 years. Archives
September 2017
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