“To the King of the ages, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen.” 1 Timothy 1:17 ESV
The warm-up: the key to every effective, safe workout. Singers also prepare their voices prior to a performance, as do musicians with their instruments. In the colder months, it’s best to warm up our cars before heading to our destinations.
Whether you warm up your body pre-workout, your voice pre-performance or your stove pre-mac‘n cheese, warm-ups are an integral part in our earthly lives. But are these the only things for which we are preparing? Are we to warm up for something else?
Friends, our entire earthly life is a warm-up for what we will do in eternity. We can easily allow our imaginations to wonder as we think of such tasks, but what will matter most is the One whom we will serve. The recipient of our eternal worship.
Numerous Scriptures tell us of the eternal praises we will proclaim as we behold the King of Glory on His throne, a work we can begin even in this present life. Yet, the goodness does not stop there.
We not only get to prepare ourselves for such a grand endeavor, God invites us to help others prepare as well. Just before writing this newsletter, I was listening to a reading of Psalm 24 and was struck by the 5th and 6th verses.
“He will receive blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation. Such is the generation of those who seek Him, who seek the face of the God of Jacob.”
What struck me was the word, “generation.” It’s true more young people are abandoning their faith (one report says 1,000,000 every year), but we also know “the harvest is plentiful” (Luke 10:2) and revivals are breaking out everywhere amongst the next gen.
Young people are hungry for the truth, authenticity and something bigger than themselves. They are more spiritually open than previous generations and are already passionate about the things of God (truth, justice, etc.), though many do not have a relationship with Him yet. They long for lasting friendships and connections with those older than them.
All these things are true, and we get to walk alongside them as the Spirit moves in their hearts. We can witness them become the blessed “generation of those who seek (God).”
Friends, our entire earthly life is a warm-up for what we will do in eternity.
Yes, it is grand that individually we are warming up for the greatest worship of all time, but God is also inviting us to help the next generation exercise their worship muscles now.
What better gift to give Jesus than laborers for His harvest? We are about to celebrate His birth after all. How about we honor Him not just in words but in deeds? What if we wholeheartedly seek His face not just in our personal devotions, but by taking up His command to make disciples of all nations and generations?
Lace up your sneaks, “having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace,” and walk alongside the next generation as we all warm up for the greatest worship of our lives (Eph. 6:15). There will be no thigh burn with this one. Only our hearts burning as we sing, “The LORD, strong and mighty, the LORD, mighty in battle...The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory!” (Ps. 24:8-10).
References:
English Standard Version Bible. (2001). Crossway Bibles.
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