Liberated

“And David danced before the Lord with all his might.” 2nd Samuel ‭6:14‬ ‭ESV‬‬

Have you ever watched a five year old sing and worship God? A few weeks back, I was standing in my normal spot at church when I looked to my right and a kid caught my eye. As soon as the worship band started to crank out the first note, he started clapping his hands with the most joyful smile on his little face. The song wasn't necessarily a clapping-type song but he clapped all the same. What I saw from that little boy taught me truck loads of wisdom about what worship truly is. But he wasn't done. As the worship set carried on to the next song, I noticed this little fella with his hands stretched out towards the sky like he was expecting his Heavenly Father to reach down and pluck him up the way his earthly one does and all the while he was singing and praising God.

That boy filled my heart that day. He had no idea what the others around him might say and neither did he truly care what they thought, all he knew was he was worshiping God and he was happy with the way things were going in his world.

If you will I am going to get a little personal for a second. In my own life I realize that there are times when I am repressed when it comes to worshiping the Lord. And frankly, it's because I spend too much time wondering what the others around me might think. I wouldn't want to be irreverent would I?

The church culture in which I was raised has always taught me that reverence was about trying not to offend God by the way you dress, making too much noise when you sing, or by moving around (dancing) too much when you sing songs to God. Because if He see's you moving more than a toe to the beat you might offend Him.

Well I have come to the conclusion that a man can come to church in a high dollar suit, wearing a Rolex watch, and throw down a fat roll of hundreds in the offering plate and still be found as a foul odor in the nose of God.

Let me explain to you what I have learned about real reverence: it is a state of the heart of the worshiper. It is the attitude in which you worship. While it may have a small part with man made dress codes and traditions, it has more to do with being set free to worship God from your heart. I can close my eyes when I read the verse above about King David dancing and celebrating and worshiping God with all his heart and energy. Why then to do we worry so much about our expressions of worship before God? If God is telling you to sing, sing. If God is telling you to dance, dance. If He tells you to celebrate Him then what is stopping you?

The worst thing anyone could have done that day was to tell that little boy to stop clapping and stand still because all they would have done was cement in his life that God was not happy with the way he chose to worship. You might say that he didn't fully understand what he was doing and to you I say, I don't care. What mattered most was that he was allowed to worship in a way that made all the sense in the world to him in that moment.

That day in our church I saw a shining example of what liberated worship truly looked like and brother, it was beautiful.