Good Wednesday morning! Watch out for the blizzard today and tomorrow! We seem to be in the path of yet another winter storm already this season. Why do we bow the head when we pray? Is someone standing there in front of us that commands that kind of respect? Well, I think I just answered my own question! Yes, the Lord does command our respect and, yes, He stands before us, beside us and within us each moment of the day. We bow our heads to show our respect and submission to our Lord.
In this world today, we are going to see many messages about the individual. We see advertisements extolling the strength of the individual human. We see shows about how beautiful humans are, how talented a person can be, and how athletically gifted some are...and then we see the advertisements for products that will take our hard-earned money and make us into all of these things for just 20 minutes a day, three times per week! "Believe in your self!" is shouted from the rooftop antennas for all to hear. Somehow my expectations for my self seem to be falling short on many counts.
On a given day, you may also see ministers on television lifting their heads and hands to heaven. That may be good or bad, depending upon what is going on in their hearts. I wonder if any have forgotten that we must bow our heads and fold our hands in submission first? Pride in the self and its accomplishments is an ever present danger to us all.
Did you catch the show on Discovery about Satan? You may not feel the urge to do any research into the adversary, but the amusing part wasn't the cartoon characters or the history. No, the show interviewed the head dude from the Church of Satan in San Francisco. You might expect all sorts of things from this person, but what surprised me was of course what shouldn't have surprised me. The church does not believe in Satan, or God; they chose the name for its shock value. What they do believe in is the self. You got it, the Church of Satan believes in the strength of the individual. They also believe in 'do unto others as they do unto you.' Which leaves them the option of revenge, which they carry out in curses and "prayers". Of course their services can be attended in costume...or not. Why doesn't this surprise? Satan believes in himself, and so it makes perfect sense that someone who chooses to use that name on their church would also believe in and worship the self. In thinking that they have made a free choice in their own strength, they have merely followed the path of rebellion against God that many have chosen before. Pride, it's a killer.
To avoid pride, we need to remind our self, that our strength comes from the one who saved us by His sacrifice on the cross. We bow our heads in prayer to show respect for our Lord Jesus. Alone we can accomplish little; that isn't my idea or observation, Jesus said something close to that in the Bible. I believe it goes: "Human effort accomplishes little..." We would like to think that we alone have built great cities and structures, explored vast continents, figured out the human mind, cured all manner of diseases, and many other great accomplishments. The builders in Babel said something like that and God let them try it without the ability to communicate. We as a race can throw up big termite mounds and call them skyscrapers, but God is not fooled. We need salvation from Him and we need His strength to accomplish anything of lasting value. Trust only in God!
How does the writer of a devotional come up with things to write about each day? I don't know about all of 'em, but I know what happened with this one today. He bowed the head and folded the hands in prayer to Jesus. Believe in Jesus, every day!
God bless you and keep you safe on this day!
Bucky
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