Worth Quoting #2 (Heartbeat of the Bible)

The heartbeat of God’s Word is worship. In fact, Jesus defines believers as worshipers because the driving message of salvation is to worship the God of heaven. The Scriptures open in Genesis with God walking and talking with Adam and Eve, His worshipers. Exodus contains elaborate plans for a tent—its sole purpose being to bring worshipers to God. Psalms, the longest book at the heart of God’s Word, is a manual on ways to worship the God of the universe. The rest of the Old Testament is a series of prophets lamenting the neglect and abandonment of worship by God’s people who were to be a kingdom of worshipers (priests). The New Testament opens with the introduction in the Gospels of the God of heaven, on earth, seeking creatures who would be willing to be worshipers. The Book of Acts records what happens when average people from every walk of life, every strata of society, and every depth of sin, are bound together with a common passion for being lifelong worshipers. The Epistles are a manual on how to grow as worshipers. God’s Word then closes in Revelation with all of God’s worshipers home at last with their Creator—and joyfully worshiping Him! Is your heart the heart of a worshiper? The word “worship” is full of meaning; it expresses the idea of “falling down, prostrating oneself, and kissing the feet or the hem of the garment of the one honored.” We should ponder William Temple’s wonderful definition of worship, which is “to quicken the conscience by the holiness of God, to feed the mind with the truth of God, to purge the imagination by the beauty of God, to open up the heart to the love of God, to devote the will to the purpose of God.” ~ John Samuel Barnett, Living Hope for the End of Days

© Becky Laney of Operation Actually Read Bible