Worship and Sin - Cannot Live in the Same Heart

Prodigals and Those who Love Them is such a good book. In fact, it was so good I read it more than once. In this book, written by Ruth Bell Graham, she tells of a time that she awoke in the early hours of the morning to think of one she loved- who was “trying hard to run from God.” She said she lay there and prayed. Then she made the statement, “When it is dark and the imagination runs wild, there are fears only a mother can understand”. (I'm sure there are those of us who can heartily agree to that.) I was very impressed by her further writing in this chapter as she sensed God encouraging her to, “Quit studying the problems and start studying the promises.” So she turned on her light and got out her bible, and the first verses that came to her were Philippians 4:6-7, “do not to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let y(our) requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard y(our) hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (ESV).

After reading these verses, Mrs. Graham was struck with the following thought, “Suddenly I realized the missing ingredient in my prayers had been “with thanksgiving.” So I put down my Bible and spent time worshiping Him for who and what He is......I began to thank God for giving me this one I loved so dearly in the first place. I even thanked him for the difficult spots that taught me so much. And you know what happened? It was as if someone turned on the lights in my mind and heart, and the little fears and worries that had been nibbling away in the darkness like mice and cockroaches hurriedly scuttled for cover.” The following words she had to say made a great impression on me, “That was when I learned that worship and worry cannot live in the same heart: they are mutually exclusive.”

As I got thinking on this excerpt from Mrs. Graham's book, it impressed me with the fact that worship and worry are not the only things that cannot live in the same heart. Worship- and anger cannot live in the same heart; worship- and selfishness cannot live in the same heart; worship- and discontentment cannot live in the same heart.... etc. etc. Any kind of sinful tendency we may be tempted with- cannot live in the same heart as worship. As Christians, we need to understand the importance of being a worshipful people- from our hearts. We must “worship the Lord y(our) God and him only shall (we) serve” (Luke 4:8). When we give into our sinful tendencies- (which one pastor referred to as sowing to the flesh)- then we are serving self. On the other hand, when we exercise our will to obey God's word (which would be sowing to the Spirit)- then we are serving God. We cannot serve God and self at the same time. Any kind of sin- and worship cannot live in the same heart. This understanding really helps one to see how far we are from what we need to be, because we are faced with (what Jerry Bridges would refer to as) “Respectable Sins”- every day. Those sins we think nothing of- such as anger, discontentment, selfishness, pride.. etc. etc. tempt us- every day and sometimes several times a day- (depending on how well or how badly our day is going).

In order to be a worshipful people, we need to be glorifying God in all that we do. To do this, we must “put off y(our) old self, which belongs to y(our) former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, and to “be renewed in the spirit of y(our) minds, and put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (Ephesians 4:22-24). The way to renew our minds is to be in diligent study of God's word daily-seeking the help of the Spirit to “guide us into all truth”. When we do live in obedience (by God's grace) to scripture's teaching in this way- we also will be able to experience such sinful tendencies as: worry, anger, discontent, selfishness.. etc. scuttling for cover- “like mice and cockroaches”. As Christians, being filled with the Spirit of God's love, we really “do not (need) to be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let y(our) requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard y(our) hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (ESV); “For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace” (Romans 8:6).