You’ve probably come here today after a long work week—a week in which you’ve labored behind a counter, at a desk, at the site, on the road, in the office, with the customer, or wherever work has taken you. The point is that you showed up and did the work to reap the reward of your labors. We must remember that coming here to worship is VASTLY different from going to work. There is nothing that can be earned from God through your labors. His grace to us is utterly and thoroughly unmerited.
The prophet Isaiah spoke of a day when man would turn away from his own efforts and look only to God his Savior.
“In that day man will look to his Maker, and his eyes will look on the Holy One of Israel. He will not look to the altars, the work of his hands, and he will not look on what his own fingers have made, either the Asherim or the altars of incense.”
(Isaiah 17:7-8 ESV)
We only receive the things of God as we come to Christ in faith. We cannot earn God’s favor through the work of our own hands or our religiosity. Rather, we can ONLY come to God by looking to the “Holy One of Israel,” the Lord Jesus Christ. The Spirit and the Bride say “come.”
Let’s do that now. Let’s look to him together as we go to him in prayer…
Prayer of Preparation
Heavenly Father, we come today empty-handed. Beneath our pretense lies our true condition: poverty of spirit. We come today not because of our goodness or accomplishments, but in spite of them. We come today because You invite the weary, the heavy-laden, the sinful, the poor, the broken, and the needy to come. We come today because “where else would we go? You alone have the words of eternal life.”
Holy Spirit, renew our trust in Christ and awaken faith where it is lacking. Lift us out of apathy and the routine of our daily lives so that we may behold the glory of Christ in His gospel. Let our worship be genuine. Let our praises leap from our mouths. Make us alive with faith and joy as we remember your gospel. Amen.