By Katie Evensen
Who knew one church service could make such an impact?

Visiting a new church can be overwhelming, exciting,
nerve-wracking, and even a little scary.
We are all so used to our own congregations, pastors and worship leaders
from what we may call our “home-churches”.
I visited a church with one of my suitemates back in February that was
her “home-church”. Not only was I
excited to see where she attended every Sunday with her family, there was a major
plus in getting to leave campus for a while. Little did I know what a positive effect one church service would have
on me for the next 40 days…
Do you ever stop and think about what or who you
worship? Some of us Christians may automatically
think “God”. But is this 100% true and
honest? The definition of “worship” is
the following: “The feeling or expression of reverence and adoration for a
deity” (a “deity” meaning “a god”). When
we take a look at this definition and how deep it is, it makes us re-think what we are worshipping.
The pastor of the church I visited that one Sunday gave a
message on a “40 Day Challenge”. His
challenge was this: “Figure out what your idol is, what you place on the throne
instead of God, and take the next 40 days to pray that that idol no longer
replaces God on the throne.” That may
sound dramatic, and maybe a bit obvious, but have you taken the time to
actually think about what you “worship” besides your Heavenly Father? This could be anything…something as little as
worrying too much about grades or what other people think of you. Some other examples the pastor gave were
obsession with money and spending too much time focusing on social media.
Exodus 20:2-6 says, “I am the Lord your God, who
brought you out of Egypt,
out of the land of slavery. You shall have no other gods before me. You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or
in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of
the parents to the
third and fourth generation of
those who hate me, but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.”
In verses three and five, we as readers can
see that Moses gives us a clear direction to only worship God, and to put aside
idols.
In Ezekiel 14:2 it reads, “Then the word of the Lord came to me: “Son of man, these men have set
up idols in their hearts and put wicked stumbling blocks before their
faces.” Idols are “stumbling blocks” that keep us
from pursuing a walk with God and prevent our gaze from being fixed on
Christ. For me, pursuing Christ means
letting go of others’ opinions of me. It means praying about not letting others
get under my skin, whether through their negative attitudes, thoughts, or
actions.
It has
been more than 40 days now, and I can honestly say that because of prayer and
trusting deeply in God, these particular idols have become less and less of a
stumbling block for me. These might always be a challenge for me, but I know
that with God, nothing is impossible.
Worshipping God is so important because He
alone is mighty and deserves praise. He alone is Lord over all of creation, and
he alone sent his Son to redeem the world from sin. No one and nothing deserves
as much love and worship as Christ. Nothing compares to Him!
Would
you try this “40 Day Challenge” of prayer and trust, placing God back on the
throne to lovingly rule over your life? Would you seek him and ask him what
stumbling blocks are getting in the way of worshiping him alone? Take your idol
and what you worship, and pray that God, himself, replaces that. When we place material
objects, and even people on the throne of our lives, we turn away from God. But
when we seek first his Kingdom, we praise him as Savior and Lord!
You
will know the difference once you start putting all your trust and love in Him.
Lord, I pray that we not only give our hearts and desires to what you want, but allow us to lean on you when we see our hearts leaning towards something that does not glorify you. I pray that this "40 Day Challenge" is truly a challenge, to become more Christ-like and glorify you, and you alone!
Amen.
Photo courtesy of Flickr.
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