My deep dive into the wisdom literature books was a great blessing during the first part of the year. While studying Ecclesiastes, I came upon a stern warning about worship that’s worth sharing. Listen to Solomon…
Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.
(Ecclesiastes 5:1 )
“Keep your foot” means “guard your steps.” Watch what you do. Don’t be flippant or careless. Don’t treat it as a slight thing. Instead, appreciate the seriousness of the moment. You are approaching the Lord in worship. That’s not a trip to the hot dog vendor.
In fact, Solomon says you should be more ready to hear than to give an offering, because if you’re not careful, your offering might be the sacrifice of fools, who offer worship without consideration or respect for God. They do evil and don’t even realize it. Worship is no joke, in other words. Worship is not left to you to decide how it should be done. I think, in some places, there is too much emphasis placed on rigidly following a preferred formula, to the point where the ritual becomes the object of worship and not the Lord. I think, in other places, there is too much allowance made for doing whatever feels good or feels right, as though we are the deciders of what constitutes true worship.
In truth, worship is about approaching God, and we had best not forget that. God is the object of our worship; not our heart, our whims, or our preferred methods. There is a right way and a wrong way to worship God. The right way is the way God demands. The wrong way is every other way.
End of thought.
~Matthew