We have been studying several spiritual mountains, mostly from the
book of Matthew. We have come to the final mountain mentioned in
Matthew 28:16-20. The Lord Jesus had prearranged a meeting with His
disciples on this mountain in Galilee. The disciples had to make a
long trip from Jerusalem to Galilee to keep this appointment. Do we
desire to keep our appointment with our Master and receive marching
orders from Him?
We will focus only on one aspect of the final mountaintop meeting
after the Lord's resurrection. We read, "When they saw Him they
worshipped Him but some doubted." It was the mount of worship.
Interestingly, the first mention of "worship" in the Bible was at
another mountain called Moriah where Abraham planned to "go yonder and
worship" (Gen. 22:5) Abraham was ready to sacrifice his son in
obedience to God but God provided a ram instead, declaring Himself as
Jehovah Jireh, God the Provider. True worship is willing to withhold
nothing from God!
False worship also was connected with mountains like Mount Gerizim
(John 4: 20-24) and the mount of temptation. (Matthew 4:8-10) True
worship is the missing factor in the lives of many believers. In fact,
while the disciples worshipped the resurrected Lord, we read that
"some doubted." Doubting and worship are incompatible with each other.
If we worship the Lord wholeheartedly, we will never doubt Him. On the
contrary, doubt and unbelief hinder worship. Do you doubt your Master?
If so, cry out to Him saying, "Lord help Thou mine unbelief!" The Lord
rebuked Peter on one occasion with the words, "Why did you doubt?"
After this lapse was dealt with, the disciples, "came and worshipped
Him" (Matthew 14:31-33) Unbelief dishonors God and it is the very
antithesis of worship.
Worship can issue in various forms such as singing, sacrificing the
fruit of our lips (Heb.13:15), rejoicing in the Lord, giving to Him,
trusting Him even in the storms of life and so on. But primarily it is
an attitude of the heart brimming with gratitude, love, a sense of awe
and a feeling of dependence, as one dwells on the attributes and works
of God.
We have climbed several spiritual mountains in the series on spiritual
mountaineering. Now let us climb each mountain and ask the Lord in the
words of Caleb, "Give me this mountain!" (Joshua 14:12)
By Dr.Samuel Kumar.
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