From the Heart

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. Sin. Quite a churchy word ain't it? One can barely attend a service these days without hearing it dropped in some context. In fact, being the second of the spiritual laws, one should presumably never attend a service where it's not at least hinted at. The death of humanity. The curse upon us all. But what exactly is it? What exactly is sin? Sin is anything contrary to God's nature, or, put another way, anything that fails to bring Glory to God. Just as our actions can't ever save us, our actions don't really condemn us either. Our blatantly wicked heart does that.

For that is where sin really resides, inside us all. Godless actions themselves, although they are commonly referred to as "sins", are actually just the outward manifestations of the evil within. Sin is the beast lurking in the heart of every human being that has walked this earth save one. It is the glue that would have us attach ourselves to anything but God. Anything. This can range from blatant immorality to more mundane activities that don't focus on God. Even good and beautiful things can be corrupted. If a mother loves her child more than her creator, that is sin. If a man loves his country more than his God, that is sin. Perhaps the deadliest forms of sins are the things that humanity would consider worthy passions. The attribute that makes these types of sins so deadly is how pure they may appear on the outside. Motherly/Fatherly love, loyalty, apologetics, charitable works, (etc) all of the examples you can think of can be a beautiful form of worship to the Creator, but if they fail to be done for His glory, they end up being greater evils than lust, murder, stealing, and lying. At least with the latter sins there should be a piercing sense of guilt and shame that can reveal to the perpetrator the evil inside themself. A heart that worships something deemed honorable is harder to turn. Indeed some of the blackest, hardest, and hopelessly lost of all hearts haven't missed a Sunday Church Service or Bible Study in as long as anyone can remember. Lucifer was one of (if not the) greatest and most beautiful of God's angels. The greater the potential for glorifying God, the greater the demon it produces when it goes astray.

The general idea behind these thoughts is that the Lord is so glorious, so beautiful, magnificent, and fulfilling that it is a blatant fallacy not to worship Him with every moment and aspect of our lives. The creator of this Universe, the orchestrator of all time, the author and perfecter of saving faith, the almighty Three-in-One, the giver of eternal life (etc. ad infinitium) such an impressive resume demands praise; endless, perfect, self-abandoning praise. But who can do that? Absolutely no one. Most people spend their lives completely absorbed with themselves, and even those who praise God once in awhile have their praise rejected. God desires (and is worthy to have) only the purest of lips belonging to the holiest of hearts sing His praises, and people who care about anything more than God are blaspheming God by even insinuating His existence much less praising Him. If you praise God loudly in church, but care about something more than Him, then how much more prolifically your life sings the praises of your real desire.

The answer? Reliance upon the death of Jesus Christ to give us the holiness of heart necessary to pray to and effectively praise God and the interceding of the Holy Spirit before God on our behalf. It is the Spirit that allows us to speak to the Father openly and creates in us an all consuming desire for His will. "What is God's will?" you ask. That He be exulted and glorified above all that He has created. That He would be our sole purpose, anchor, desire, and love for the rest of our lives. He is certainly deserving of such. Indeed, we can sing His praises for the rest of all eternity and never begin to glorify Him as much as He deserves. Thankfully, He's going to give us the opportunity to try.

"All glory to the One in Existence. Bring upon Your name, Your grace, Your everything!
All glory to the One in Existence. Bring upon Your name, Your grace, Your everything!
Tombstones serve as mirrors and the graves are infinite.
Take a look through the lens and through your eyes.
End the partitioning." - The Devil Wears Prada