Tuesday, April 7, 2009

Worthy of Praise

We all have people in our lives who we admire, who have done great things, who have been selfless. They need to receive our praise and appreciation. They are worthy. But sometimes we have to understand that it is who they are and what they do that is most important.

Sometimes concentration on the actions of others misses the reality of the situation. A mother, according to scripture, who cares for her child, who changes the babies diapers, who is nurses the baby at her breast and who because of her love for that child would even give her life for it to protect the child is doing what she was born to do, doing what she must do, not out of heroism, not out of extraordinary humanity or heroism. She is the mother of that Child and that reality of who she is must inform her action. She sacrifices because she is the mother.

That in a tiny tiny way illustrates what we must praise, Jesus sacrifice, his pain, his suffering, his horrible death on the Cross is meaningful not because he suffered and died, to concentrate on that misses the point. Thousands of people in those days suffered and died on a cross. What makes it meaningful at all is who he IS. He is worthy of Praise not for what he did, but for who he is.

King of all Glory steps out of eternity to live perfectly and die horribly for you. Now he rules and reigns over sin, death and the devil. For that he is worthy to be praised.

The cross is not the focus, the victory over evil is, and that the ONE WORTHY LAMB was slain from the foundations of the earth to buy us all back from certain eternal condemnation.

That is worthy of praise.

1 comment:

Heart n Hands Inc. said...

Worthy, Worthy, Worthy is the Lamb!

Shouts of Praise, hands raised
Tears streaming, faces beaming
and yet it all fails to say
even in a small way -

What human hearts and tongues
cannot adequately proclaim...

Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain.

NEM 4-8-09