The Joy of Rightness

-

The rightness of God is what makes him worthy of praise and worship.  

Yes, he is powerful, wise and inconceivably great.  Those are all awesome attributes.  But it's his rightness, his righteousness, that makes him worthy.

We love rightness.  And we know, instinctively, what foundational rightness is.  We may be confused about the specifics.  The influence of our godless culture has marred our perception of righteousness in many of the details of ethics and morality.  But we still understand the essential rightness of love, not hate; of peace, not war; of charity, not greed; of humility, not hubris.  

We know what makes the good guy good, and the bad guy bad.

Rightness is good, and God is the essence of rightness.  He is always, completely, amazingly, wonderfully right and good in every way.

And worship of God solely for his rightness is pure, unadulterated joy.

Comments

Janet Sketchley said…
Well said! And worship of God like this fulfills a deep, instinctive need. No wonder we're miserable when we don't!
August 18, 2012 at 5:29 AM
Something About the Joy said…
For sure, Janet. I'm thinking a lot about what makes for proper worship. Too often I worship Him for what He does for me. That's idolatry, actually.
January 6, 2013 at 3:37 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Mystery of Growth

-
Image
When I pray about a problem or a struggle, too often I find myself expecting God to simply step in and fix things.   I expect the fixing to be immediate, and I expect it to be painless and effortless on my part.   I watch for a flash of lightning at the end of my prayer that either gives me the solution or whips me out of the situation I'm unhappy with. This flash of lightning rarely comes. I've been working in my garden this spring.   I don't know what I'm doing.   I've never had a green thumb.   But I figure since I have some space now and extra time on my hands I might as well see if I can do something constructive with it. But it's discouraging.   I planted nasturtium seeds, sweet peas, and marigolds, which I've heard keep out the garden pests, but none of them have sprouted.   I put in three tomato plants two weeks ago and they haven't grown an inch. Other people have zucchinis already and I only have wisps of green shoot
Read more

Four Types of Besetting Sins and Three Reasons to Avoid Them!

-
Image
--> What is a besetting sin? A besetting sin is anything that dethrones the legitimate ruler of our hearts.  Basically, a besetting sin is an idol.  If you are a believer, you have chosen to allow Jesus Christ to sit on the throne of your life.  He is the only rightful ruler of any human heart, and any attitude or action that disturbs His presence there, at the center, is a sin.  When that sin is allowed to remain, it becomes a habit, or a besetting sin. Besetting sins begin with an  attitude .  Sometimes a heart attitude, itself, is the sin, and other times the attitude leads to  actions  that are sinful.  In any case, when the attitude becomes engrained in our spirits, it becomes a besetting sin. Ø Pride  is the mother of all sins.  Pride puts the self on the throne, and so is the ultimate expression of sin.  It's the sin that was, and still is, Satan's downfall, and it's the one we have the most trouble with.  Pride is probably t
Read more

A Risky Business

-
Image
  My life seems to be a constant growth cycle.    I go from an initial place of trusting in God, to an insurmountable problem, to worry and anxiety, to remembering His faithfulness in the past, to choosing to believe once again, to one small encouraging sign of His love—a sign that grows the faith even before I see the answer, to praise for Who He is and what He is going to do, and then, finally, to the miracle. Then we begin again, with a slightly more insurmountable problem.   This faith walk is like following stepping stones across a raging river. I step out, jump onto the next three stones that are nearby, then look around for another foothold. I see none at first, then one that is close but requires a bit of a stretch, then another that is no bigger than the size of my foot. This one seems too far to hazard a leap but there is no other option. I cannot go back. So I leap, and then keep on going as far as I can, taking chances, and a
Read more