Last week Apple unveiled a new device that uses cutting-edge technology and does things no other device does. Within an hour of the Apple presentation, many tech blogs were making lists of all the features they thought were missing and all the reasons they weren’t impressed with this new piece of technology.
We live in a culture where it’s cool to be unimpressed. I’m not exactly sure where this sentiment came from, but I would guess that it’s, at lest in part, a reaction to our over-hyped-marketing-crazy culture. Words like “revolutionary,” “life-changing,” and “amazing” get thrown on to products all around us. Just walk down the cleaning isle in any grocery store and look at how the products are labeled. As a result, I think we’ve grown tired of hearing these kinds of words.
Then we gather for church on Sunday and find similar words being used as we talk and sing about God. It doesn’t take much time in church to hear songs with the words “amazing,” “wonderful,” and “powerful” in them. I think the overuse of these adjectives affects the way we worship God. I’ve found myself singing words about God being powerful with about as much enthusiasm as I have when reading about dish soap being powerful.
In Matthew 18, Jesus teaches that to enter the Kingdom, we are to “become like little children.” I wonder if part of becoming like a child means that I allow myself to be fully captivated by what God has done for us and to respond freely — like children do when they find something they get excited about. I lay down my inhibitions because God has done great things and is truly worthy of my greatest response.
I found a prayer in a Mennonite hymnal that beautifully articulates why God is fully worthy of my worship. This fresh articulation of God’s greatness helps draw me into a place where I can respond with all my heart, soul, mind, and strength. Maybe it will do the same for you.
Our god, how great you are! On the first day of the week we commemorate Your creation of the world and all that is in it.
Thank You for the light which wakes us morning by morning and for that greater light which shines in Jesus Christ.Our God, how great You are! On the first day of the week You raised Jesus from the dead.
Raise us with Him to a new quality of faith and life.Our God, how great You are! Again on the first day of the week You sent Your Spirit on Your disciples.
Do not deprive us of Your Spirit, but renew Him in us day by day. Amen.
