Worship

A friend sent me a note that I originally sent out to the church more than 7 years ago. It reminded me of some things that deal directly with worship, trust and discipleship. It centers around an old dog – Chewy

Lately I have been learning some neat lessons from our dog Chewy, who many of you have met. Yesterday Chewy turned 18 years old. I guess in dog years that makes him the oldest one I know. And though he shows his age - getting up much more slowly, without complaint he negotiates stairs with some challenges, even falling down more often, but he keeps getting up. I pray that I will live life in a similar way. No matter how hard life gets, no matter how many times I fall down, I pray that I will get back up. Chewy can't see well, we have to turn lots of lights on for him to see, and I feel that way too, God has to illuminate my way or else I get lost. One day Chewy was in the front yard after a hard rain, standing in the "pond" that often appears there at times like that. It was dark. He was standing in water, probably thinking, "I don't remember a pond being here" But he did the right thing. He stood still and waited until I came to get him. He heard me clap and call but couldn't tell exactly what direction I was coming from, so he was waiting, and I walked out into the middle of the pond, took him by the collar and led him back home. He didn't pull away from my hand leading him like he did when he was younger. He knew he could trust my hand to lead him. And how I want to trust God's hand, to know that even though it seems like I am lost, stuck in a pond, He will lead me Home. Sometimes the things that bother me about Chewy will no longer be a problem. Occasionally we don't pay attention to his way of telling us he needs to go outside, and he ends up going on the floor, right in front of us. We can hardly yell at him, he used every trick he knew to get our attention, but we weren't paying attention. Cleaning up the hair or dog dish will someday be a thing of the past. As I often say, there is a last time for everything. So for now, Chewy is teaching me to love and respect him while we still have him. To be patient with him when he isn't as able to take care of himself or listen to our directions. I believe God has been patiently living like that towards me all my life. One day, this world will be just a memory, and I will stand in His presence, able to see and hear and know Him so clearly, but until that day, I want to be patient in life, consistent, willing to persevere, willing to love and share and follow him when He takes me by the hand.

Less than a month from the time I wrote that, we had to put Chewy to sleep. It was a sad and blessed day. Sad to say goodbye to a longtime friend, blessed for the many years we had him with us. It seems to me that one reason God made dogs was to show us what it is to experience worship. Think about it.

1. Whether we leave the house for a day’s work, or a short errand, they delight in our return.

2. They sit at our feet attentive to every more we make. Not just when we’re eating

3. They show delight naturally, robustly and daily.

What if we learned to treat God half as nice as our dogs treat us? If our delight in His presence was so visible, if our attentiveness to Him was so constant?

Today we are talking about the gift of the Magi that represented worship.

Matt. 2:7-11 The Magi Visit the Messiah

7 Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. 8 He sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him.”

9 After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen when it rose went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the child was.

10 When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. 11 On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh.