March 10, 2011 Sound Good? It is.

Cleansing Worship
Read Joshua 3-6

Josh 3:5 Joshua told the people, “Consecrate yourselves, for tomorrow the LORD will do amazing things among you.”

I’M THINKING of Sunday morning, going to church and being in God’s presence. I wonder what would happen if I would “consecrate” myself on Sunday morning. And then I would leave worship in faith, expecting God to do amazing things in my life.
To consecrate means to become clean or to be morally purified. Now I can’t purify myself morally or “clean” myself spiritually. But I can, in the presence of God, open myself to his Spirit to do the cleansing.
How would I open myself to cleansing? I would confess my sins. I would pray to God in praise and adoration. I would sing songs of praise and worship in gratitude for his salvation on my soul. I would raise my hands in love, or sit in contemplation of his Word.
I would listen closely to the Word spoken to determine where I fall short of following God. And I would pray for God’s protection on my heart in order to live more closely with him.
Then I would leave. I would go home in expectation of his blessings, his power, his grace on my life. I would give thanks all week long for his “amazing things” in my life.
Then I would be excited to go back the next week to “get clean” all over again, gathered with God’s people to worship him.
Sound good? It is.


Pause and Consider: how good it is to be clean.