worship

So I'm sitting in the sun listening to the Delirious Farewell CD on my walkman. Downloaded it this morning from iTunes.

I remember these guys when they were Cutting Edge; I went down to Littlehampton to see them in some gym. It was fantastic - we're talking '94 I think.

And listening to this recording, I am reminded of the power of beautiful words. Words of heartfelt, full-blooded commitment to Jesus. The music is wonderful, matching the words, but it's the words that grab me. From "Deeper" to "Obsession" to "Paint the Town" to "Bliss" to "Solid Rock" time and again they peel back the superficial with simple phrases of great profundity.

Idolatry is not worshipping an obvious idol; it is breaking the relationship of right love for God by taking our first eyes off Him and letting that love rest elsewhere. We are made to love, and we fill our hearts with love - but unless we place that first love firmly upon Jesus we will always be only partially human. It is he who makes us all we can be, allowing us in his love to love everything else that surrounds us, envelopes us, properly. Fully. Gloriously. Because we live in right love with him, first, with our first eyes on him, free to look everywhere else rightly, wonderfully, as a result. This is the opposite of idolatry, this is salvation, this is redemption, this is the cross, this is true worship.

And as I listen to the songs on this recording, my heart is lifted, my eyes are taken from the myriad things and concerns and worries and people that fill them, and I worship with joy. Clearly. The fog clearing.

Idolatry is not a condemnation, it is a sadness, a warning, a reality for a fallen humanity in a cracked world. Praise God for the gift of worship leaders who pursue truth and carry us there, on the coat tails of Jesus, fixing our world as they fix our gaze with theirs on our Saviour and his wonderful love.