It’s my joy to introduce to you a dear friend and a man of God, Pst. Subi Samuel. While pastoring a church in Mumbai, he also is one of the top Bollywood photographers. His ministry is different from the usual, God uses Him in unique ways to be a light in the dark. He recently started his second Sunday service going strong at his own studio in Mumbai. Be blessed. Ask any Sunday school child to tell you three things that they know about God and they will tell you that He is everywhere (Omnipresent), He is all powerful (Omnipotent) and He is all knowing (Omniscient).
He knows where all the oil in world lies. He knows where all the pearls are hidden. He knows everything! Yet in John 4:23, the Bible tells us that the Father is seeking true worshippers.
Yes, an all knowing God seeks true worshippers. In fact, He is waiting for worshippers!
A Lesson From My Daughter
Not too long ago, my daughter Khayla put her artistic skills to paper and created a drawing which read, “Jesus, we love you”. As a father, it really touched my heart. That scribbled doodle suddenly transformed from a simple piece of paper to a treasured piece of art to me.
Too often we tend to back off from worship thinking that it is not good enough. We strive in our worship. We try to better our worship. But God is more interested in the relationship with the worshipper than the worship itself.
Had Khayla not drawn it, it would have never made it to the cupboard sitting on top of all my bank papers. I show it off to my friends and chances are that they might forget after a while but to me it remains precious. Not because of how perfect it is. In fact, I overlook the imperfections and appreciate the effort.
I have over time collected so many little things made by Khayla and my son Zephan. And it makes me wonder what God’s treasure box looks like.
Perfected Praise
Matthew 21:16 says, “… Out of the mouth of babes and nursing infants You have perfected praise” We’ve read this scripture so many times that somehow we have not really taken in the true meaning. The significance seems to have been lost.
Perfect praise does not come from perfect people. When His children praise Him, the praise is perfected for His hearing.[ClickToTweet]
My son Zephan happened to see this video, which was on my phone, of the song “Jai Bolo” sung by Sheldon Bangera at a meeting. A little while later, he picked up his toy guitar and began imitating Sheldon around the room. My immediate reaction was to record his singing. I sent it to Sheldon saying, “Next generation rising”. Now imagine how many times God the Father captures such moments of abandoned worship and praise. Don’t compare yourself with anyone else. God wants to hear your version. Perfected by Him, He receives it and chooses to enjoy it.
God Feeds on Worship
Let me paint a picture for you. Jesus is at Simon the leper’s house. There is a table laid out fully laden with the best of food. He was surrounded by dignified guests. Everyone is talking and conversations flying across the room. And here is Jesus saying, “I am hungry”. I am hungry for true worshippers. Suddenly amidst the crowd, Mary comes to Him. Abandoning all dignity and without a care for what anyone might think of her, she breaks the alabaster box which she had purchased with her life’s savings and chooses to worship Him. And then Jesus says, “I am now well fed. No one will remember what was served that day. No one will remember the conversations we had but this worship I will not forget. Because this woman has fed Me spiritually, she will be remembered throughout time.”
As the title of this blog suggests, these are the three earthly things that make it to heaven.
1) Our Worship
2) Our Tears
3) Our Prayers
God is a collector of worship, tears and prayers. He places them on the shelves of heaven. It says in Psalm 56:8, “You number my wanderings; Put my tears into Your bottle; Are they not in Your book?” Don’t hold back your worship anymore. Don’t quench your tears. Don’t make little of your prayers. He waits. He longs. He desires for you. Run to Him!
What often stops you from giving Him all your worship? How have you overcome these hurdles? Do comment in the comments section below.