Who is this that requires MY worship?
6 Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel
and his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
“I am the first and I am the last;
besides me there is no god.
7 Who is like me? Let him proclaim it.
Let him declare and set it before me,
since I appointed an ancient people.
Let them declare what is to come, and what will happen.
8 Fear not, nor be afraid;
have I not told you from of old and declared it?
And you are my witnesses!
Is there a God besides me?
There is no Rock; I know not any.”
9 All who fashion idols are nothing, and the things they delight in do not profit. Their witnesses neither see nor know, that they may be put to shame.
Some have argued (and I did more than once too) that it seems a little egotistical for God to demand or even expect all of this worship. I mean, isn’t that prideful?
One time I had a friend that was a jiu-jitsu instructor. He got a bunch of us together (that didn’t know a thing about jiu-jitsu) and showed us some moves and holds. It was really cool. We got to learn some ways that the human body can move and respond to pain, strength, and weakness.
Once we learned some moves, we really wanted to try to get our instructor stuck. It was impossible. Finally, he caught on and told us, “Don’t try to do something to me that I just taught you. It won’t work out for you.” He proceeded to tell us about how he tried to make the fight even with the students in his class that he had taught for years. He would have them tie his hands behind his back and being from a lying down position…and still they were no match for him.
He never once insisted that we tell him how good he was at jiu-jitsu. At the same time, he didn’t want us to make fools of ourselves by thinking we could beat him. Out of his own care for us (and respect for our time and the aches and pains tomorrow!), he didn’t even let us think we could beat him. The best way for us to get the most instruction out of him was to admit that he was the master. The relationship was set up in that get-together that Casey was better than any of us, and our role there was to be a bunch of learners.
So here is God. He is the only being or thing in the whole universe that actually does deserve all of the worship and praise we can give Him. Anything good and glorious we could say about Him is true. He doesn’t demand it because He needs to hear it, but because He loves us and doesn’t want us to be fools. When I declare any created thing (which He Himself created BTW) as better than Him, I am misunderstanding reality.
There isn’t anybody or anything like God. He alone holds that status and from that position of greatness, He loves us so much.
—
You can get the Daily Bible Readings to your inbox via email every day by subscribing on our home page. Join the discussion on Facebook or Twitter.