Advent | Week 4 | Wednesday

Worship on Wednesday

One of the greatest barriers to genuine worship is our human propensity for making God in our own image, for centering ourselves even in the way we relate to God. When God set aside Israel as His people, He did so for the salvation of the world, for their relationship with Him to be a light to other nations.  Instead, they repeatedly sought to claim the benefits of relationship for themselves without living in a way that brought Him glory and drew other nations to revere Him as the true God.  

In Jesus’ day, the Jews were so focused on a Messiah who would save them politically that they failed to see that God had come near, living in their midst.  Throughout church history, we see the same failure to delight in God for His own sake instead of using His name for power, prosperity, or prestige.  If we’re honest, we can see this happen in our own lives as well.

• While it’s legitimate for your culture to shape your life, are you aware of ways that it can act as blinders to seeing God clearly and to loving others well?
• Take some time today to be quiet before the Lord and ask Him to show you ways in which so you’re caught up in your own plans, your own comfortable habits, and familiar community that you’re not seeing what He longs to reveal to you and through you.
• With whom will it be most difficult for you to spend time over the next few weeks? 
• How might interactions with that person be an opportunity to think “story of the soul,” as well as an invitation for God to enlarge your perspective?

We also have a Larger Story playlist on Spotify to help you center your attention on Jesus this season, and we’re continuing to add music to it throughout Advent.