I have heard it on and off that fatherhood can teach you what true worship is supposed to be. I'm now proving it to be true, as my son occasionally invokes in me what I should always be invoking in my Heavenly Father.
There's a natural joy and satisfaction about being a father. You have a constant reason to smile at any given time as the faces of your children enter your mind. Or you're there at home watching them do whatever they're doing. When they're achieving some milestone like walking or graduating. I think fathers are a lot more constantly happy than non-fathers. I should know cause I was once a non-father. And now I love being my kids' father.
But here's what I get a kick out of most about this daddy-role. It's not just watching my son play from a distance. It's not just enjoying his progress and crossovers. It not just in seeing him healthy and happy in his world. What warms my heart and gives me a kick like nothing else...
It's when he wants me. When he wants to come to me. To run into my arms. When he hugs might tight because he's feeling vulnerable. When he needs me. When he wants to be like me. When he tries to do what I do. To imitate me. When he wants to do my sit-ups with me in the mornings. When he lifts his hands in re-enactment of worship after watching me in church. When he's crying after enduring some pain and seeks comfort from me. When he's cuddled up in my arms despite receiving discipline from me. That's when I'm most happy. That's when my fatherhood is re-affirmed. Father (parents) know the feeling.
And this is what I think true worship is. It's not in simply being aware of our Heavenly Father. Worship is about re-affirming our reliance on Him. Making sure He knows that we need Him. And trying to be like Him and to do what He does. To acknowledge Him as Abba (daddy), not just God and King. To re-affirm His fatherhood over us. To allow Him to get a kick out of just being our daddy.
Worship means running to Him. It's reaching for Him in every circumstance. To give back to Him a thumbs up. Giving Him the satisfaction that fathers have when their kids acknowledge Him.
As we worship Him this weekend, and every day thereafter, I hope we can make His father-heart glad. Satisfied. Warm. Happy.
That's true worship.
Heavenise day!
