Worshiping God

A continuation of my series on cleaning the bathroom several days ago--anyone know how to change the dates?

On Sunday (7/18/2010) our congregation had the opportunity to hear an excellent sermon brought to us by Pastor Steve Coddington; our sermons are available for download here.

The sermon involved the fact that heaven was a really cool place and it will be awesome. But one of the quotations that struck me was that our lives should be arrows pointing to God (or something like that). We should be worshiping God all the time, in all we do. I knew that. But I hadn't applied it to cleaning. But that morning, my cleaning was worship of God. I scrubbed the toilet for God. I cleaned the dust and scum from the crevices of the window track to God. And God was glorified in that.

And further another thing occurred to me--in heaven we will be eternally engaged in worshiping God. Yes, that will involve singing and dancing and all that normal worship stuff. But I bet that won't be all of it.

I don't know if there will be a need to clean in heaven. Will plants need dirt and water to grow? Will our heavenly bodies need food, or is the feast metaphorical? Will our heavenly bodies leave oily secretions or lose hair? Not really sure. But if one takes the descriptions of heaven at all literally--and I tend to take the Bible literally when possible--there's a whole lot of clear stuff in heaven, and a whole lot of shiny stuff, and a whole lot of people. And here on Earth, at least, that would mean there's a whole lot of work to do. And if there's work--that will be part of our worship. Not just an unpleasant side effect of life or worship--but in heaven, it will all be worship.

And it can be now, too. So whatever task God sets before you today--even if you find it unpleasant--especially if you find it unpleasant--do it to God as an act of worship. Because isn't making clean that which is unclean the very work of God?

Part 1

Part 2

Good Works that God Prepared in Advance for Us To Do

(a continuation of the series on cleaning my bathroom--yes, I'm writing a series on cleaning the bathroom)

For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do. (Ephesians 2:10)

So I've heard this verse before, but I had always heard/applied it in the context of charity, of doing things for others.

But as I cleaned my bathroom window, this is a verse that came to me.

The good works God has for us can be mundane household tasks, as well--like cleaning the bathroom window, or the toilet. And as I cleaned, I realized that the very process of entropy--the dirtying and breaking down of everything around us--is part of God's plan to prepare good works for us. That God, in his infinite wisdom and mercy and grace and goodness, while I had neglected my house, had been preparing good works for me... good works like toilets that needed cleaning. I saw that the little cup my toilet brush sits in was dirty... and I praised God for preparing that task for me. I was doing God's will. He had been giving me these good works, though I hadn't seen or recognized them as such. I had missed opportunities in the past to do His work in taking care of our house (which is, of course, His), but I could do it now.

I haven't managed to get back to that place since that morning, but maybe while I am waiting for Hannah to pick up so we can go for a walk, I can clean some windows.... Now at least I want to do these things instead of dreading them :)

(To Be Continued)

Part 1

Part 3