"If they keep quiet, the stones will cry out." Luke 19:40
There is a tension in most of us between giving our all to God and maintaining our dignity in the eyes of the world. We are urged by Jesus and by the written Word to love God with everything that is in us--our minds, our hearts, our souls, everything. Sometimes this love will take the form of a loud voice (Psalm 33:3, 47:1), and sometimes it will take the form of an unpopular stand. Either way, we're often out of step with the world.
The crowd of disciples in this passage (Luke 19:37-40) are praising God for all things Jesus has done. These disciples are loud. They're perhaps inappropriate in this particular social setting. ...But Jesus doesn't seem concerned with their volume, their defiance of social expectations, or their controversial theology. They are doing what human beings were created to do--praise God.
The unbelieving world will expect us to keep our beliefs to ourselves, or at the very least--if we must be Christians in public--be dignified about it. But we don't live according to the world's expectations. We live according to God's. And what are God's expectations for us? There may be many answers, but at least one-the main one- is our wholehearted worship. God WILL be praised. If we don't fulfill or purpose in worship, He'll raise up stones to do it. But He will be glorified by His creation.
From time to time, we need to ask ourselves who we're trying to please. Are we living to keep the world happy and ruffle as few feather as possible? Or is God our only audience? Jesus and His disciples ruffled feathers because they pursued God with wholehearted devotion and single-minded purpose. So must we.
Luke 19:37-40
"The great thing, and the only thing, is to adore and praise God."
Thomas Merton
well...those were part of my nightly devotions last night. it hit my heart..seemed like the reminder and encouragement i need in the world we're in. Just thought I'd share.
Have a blessed day.
He is Lord!
6 comments:
Awesome thoughts! I have always loved that passage about the rocks.
what a wonderful posts! Yippee - to love Him, to Praise Him, that is what we are here for :)
Thank you sheila for sharing this...in this unbelieving world, that pushes us to conform to it, to accept it, no! We, I live by God's standards - I have an audience of one - Him!
many blessings to your day,
Lady M
Hi Shiela and thank you so much for visiting my blog - I am so blessed to find yours! Thank you also for this wonderful reminder. I find it easy to praise the Lord with a loud voice but it is good to be reminded that often we must take an unpopular stand - especially as the world is today... There is so much liberalism that upsets me in society and I wonder sometimes if I am just being too judgemental, but this reminds me that God has never changed the rules - we are here for Him alone. Thank you, I needed to read this today.
Glod Bless you Shiela
Jenny xo
Thank you for this wonderful post, Shelia. It has truly touched my heart of hearts. Back to re-read it...
jAne
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