According to the Oxford dictionary, to adore means to love
and respect someone deeply; to be
devoted to or hold dear. Psalm 95:6 says,
"Come let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our maker."
If we adore someone,
we want to spend time with them as much as possible. We want to know everything about them. We treat them and everything related to them
with respect. We want to tell everyone
we meet about them. They permeate every
aspect of our thinking, speaking and acting and even our dreams at times. How
can we truly adore Jesus?
First, we have to get our priorities straight. We have to recognize Jesus for who He really
is and for what he has done for us. Kyle Idleman, in his book: gods at war, says "I
know that there is the Lord God, the master of all creation. I also know there's the god of me, the
pretender to the throne." We, still,
like our ancestors before us, choose to
pay homage to idols instead of God and often that idol is our self. How crazy is that? Jesus is so much more than anything we can
create or be. We have to get off the
throne of our lives and make sure we acknowledge Jesus as our Lord. It is only when we truly see Jesus for who He
is, that we can get serious about our
adoration.
Colossians 1:16 says "For by Him all things were
created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether
thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities.
All things have been created through Him and for Him. We wouldn't even exist without Him. Philippians 2:10-11 tells us that "it is
at the name of Jesus every knee will bow of those who are in heaven and on the
earth and under the earth and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is
Lord, to the glory of God, the Father. The
day will come when all will recognize Him.
We who know Him should live now like we do. Because of his great love for us, Jesus, the
living son of God died to pay the price for our sins, to bring us into a
relationship with Him and to ultimately give us eternal life with Him. No idol of our own making can now or ever do
that.
Secondly, we have to put Christ first. Start the day with Him, in His word and in
prayer. Seek His will for our lives and
make decisions according to His will.
Seek His counsel. He promises if
we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us.
God wants our hearts aligned with His.
He wants our whole hearted devotion not our leftovers.
What do we get from Jesus?
He gives us peace. In Isaiah 26:3,
we are promised that God keeps him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Him because he trusts
in Him.
Jesus gives us joy and hope now and in the future. Romans
15:13 states, "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you
trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy
Spirit." Isaiah 35:10 tells us, "and
the ransomed of the Lord will return. They will enter Zion with singing; everlasting joy will crown their heads. Gladness and joy will overtake them, and sorrow
and sighing will flee away. "
There's more, He gives power and strength. "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens
me."( Philippians 4:13)
He is our comfort and refuge. "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ, the father of all compassion and the God of all comfort." 2 Corinthians 1:3
Jesus is the source of everything. He made
us, chose us, called us, adopted us, redeemed and saved us. He is transforming us, advocating and providing for
us and He is coming back for us.
It is true, He is the
reason we celebrate this season, but on this day and every other, we need to fix our eyes
upon Him, bow down and adore Him. Jesus Christ
is Lord of all.
Karen Long-Moore
Originally Presented to the Leadership Team
CBS- Rutherfordton Day Class
December, 2015
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