Worshiping the Wonder of God

Worshiping the Wonder of God

Revelation 4:8-11
8.  Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under his wings. Day and night they never stop saying:  "Holy, holy, holy  is the Lord God Almighty,  who was, and is, and is to come."
 9.  Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever,
 10.  the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne, and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:
11. "You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you, and by your will they were created and have their being."

5:11-14
11.  Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders.
 12.  In a loud voice they sang: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!"
 13.  Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!"
14. The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped.

   Have you ever thought about this?  How can these beings praise God forever without ceasing?  We peek into eternity through the vision of Revelation.  We see angelic beings and the saints and the strange beings known as Cherubim praising God as though they have no other desire in their existence.  What could empty these beings so that they only have eyes for God and worship Him forever?
   I believe that the angels see Him in His Glory and know Him and therefore they can worship Him continually.  They are so in love with God and see His magnificence and live surrounded by His glory so that nothing else matters but worshipping Him.  Now for the big question.  Is it possible for us to know God so well that we would live to just worship Him?
   If I was to worship for an hour uninterrupted, I would feel very successful as a Christian.  But to worship for 2 hours continually would be a labor and probably tiresome.  I can't sustain that kind of attention - even to God.  Why?
   The problem is that I don't know God that well.  I’ve read the Bible cover to cover more than once and many parts to many times to count, but still do not know God that well.  I pray regularly and worship Him without restraint, but I just don’t know Him well enough.  I want to press in and see God’s glory and I have a real desire to know Him as I have never known anyone.  Until I do, I will continue to serve Him and worship Him but I will never be able to do either wholeheartedly.
   Unfortunately, we do not see God because of the awesomeness and immensity of God.  We find that we are like the six blind men who encountered an elephant for the first time.  The grope with their hands and feel various parts of the elephant, but because of its enormous size they cannot grasp the whole of the beast.  (See the end of this devotional for the complete poem.)
   Some try to know God through books and study.  Like academicians they study dusty manuscripts until with bloodshot eyes but never finding God in the writings.  This is not the way to God. Hear what a learned  theologian said about that approach.
Philippians 3:7 & 8
7. But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ.
8. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ.
Loss?  Rubbish?  Had Paul really wasted his whole life?  According to his own testimony, yes.   As Paul found out; like so many others have found out, we can't know God from a distance.  We need to draw close.
   Worship God.  However you choose to worship Him, do so today.  The more time you spend in His presence, the more you will come to know Him.

Stephen Cram                            August 14, 2011                        Colossians 2:8

Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ.  Colossians 2:8

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The Blind Men and the Elephant by John Godfrey Saxe

The First approach'd the Elephant,
And happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
At once began to bawl:
"God bless me! but the Elephant
Is very like a wall!"

The Second, feeling of the tusk,
Cried, -"Ho! what have we here
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear
This wonder of an Elephant
Is very like a spear!"

The Third approached the animal,
And happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
Thus boldly up and spake:
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a snake!"

The Fourth reached out his eager hand,
And felt about the knee.
"What most this wondrous beast is like
Is mighty plain," quoth he,
"'Tis clear enough the Elephant
Is very like a tree!"

The Fifth, who chanced to touch the ear,
Said: "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
Deny the fact who can,
This marvel of an Elephant
Is very like a fan!"

The Sixth no sooner had begun
About the beast to grope,
Then, seizing on the swinging tail
That fell within his scope,
"I see," quoth he, "the Elephant
Is very like a rope!"

And so these men of Indostan
Disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
Exceeding stiff and strong,
Though each was partly in the right,
And all were in the wrong!

MORAL.
So oft in theologic wars,
The disputants, I ween,
Rail on in utter ignorance
Of what each other mean,
And prate about an Elephant
Not one of them has seen!