We are all born with innate gifts, abilities and desires. In our search for direction in life we do well to pay attention that which gives us both pleasure and a sense of fulfillment. There should not be a massive disconnect between what we do and what we believe. Psalm 37 and verse 4 reveals a profound truth about how to connect our worship and our work in a seamless pattern of satisfaction. "Take delight in the Lord, and he will give you your heart's desire."
A stale and ritualistic religion will create a wall between who you are at work and who you are in worship. This wall is an enemy of a fulfilling and whole life. When we learn what it means to delight in God we will be transformed in our worship and in every dimension of our lives. To delight means to take great pleasure in and from the relationship we have with God. When God becomes so real to you and your heart is laid bare before him, your worship becomes vibrant and alive. You simply can't wait to be with the greatest lover you could ever imagine. You allow him total access to your life. There are no hidden places in a life of delight and extravagant worship.
The danger in separating our giftedness from our worship is the temptation to wrap our identity around what we are good at. Our pleasures and talents can easily become a source of idolatry and self worship that might just destroy us. Our desires need to be laid at Jesus feet as an act of surrendered worship.
A worship that doesn't cost you anything is a false substitute for the real thing. Worship involves the surrender and control of self to another deemed greater and more worthy. If you get your worship right, your life will be right. False and inadequate worship is at the root of every failure in life.
In the gospel of Mark chapter 14 and verse 3 we read, "Jesus was in Bethany at the home of Simon, a man who had leprosy. During supper, a woman came in with a beautiful jar of expensive perfume. She broke the seal and poured the perfume over his head. Some of those at the table were indignant. "Why was this expensive perfume wasted?" they asked. "She could have sold it for a small fortune and given the money to the poor!" And they scolded. her harshly."
Extravagant and whole hearted worship will often be viewed as wasteful and dangerous. In fact it is the only form of worship acceptable to God. Half hearted (lukewarm) worship is rejected by God and ultimately never satisfies. A full surrender completes us more than it restricts us. We are never more fully free than when we yield what brings us greatest pleasure to the God who creates desire.
Eric Liddell, whose life of extravagant worship was portrayed in the award winning movie Chariots of Fire, illustrated this principle so well. He said, "I believe God made me for a purpose, but he also made me fast. When I run, I feel his pleasure." Eric after winning Olympic glory went to China as a missionary and died in a labor camp surrendered to someone greater than himself. His gifts and his very life were offered unconditionally to the God who so loved him that he took his sins away on the cross.
What are you doing right now that allows you to 'feel his pleasure'? Are you in touch with your desires? Have you surrendered them in worship to the God who is worthy? Direction in life is meant to flow out of who God made you to be. If you're lost in life right now, you might need to surrender afresh to the one who put you on the planet. Direction and desire are linked inextricably. You cannot become who you were meant to be.... you cannot go where you are meant to go.... until you learn what you need to learn, right here, right now.... in worship.
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