Returning to the Heart of Worship

'If you return to the Lord, then your brothers and your children will be shown compassion by their captors and will come back to this land, for the Lord your God is gracious and compassionate. He will not turn his face from you if you return to Him.' - 2 Chronicles 30:9

There's a first time for everything, and we always remember the first experience of something.
Not so much because of the actual happenings, but because of the feelings that stirred inside of us.

Whether it was knots in your stomach beginning your first job.
Butterflies on a first kiss.
The painful heartache with a first breakup or the immense joy on becoming a parent.

We never forget those feelings because they actually made the moment slightly surreal, elevating us from our comfort zone.

There are many 'firsts' in life that we have encountered, including coming to the Lord.

Take a moment to remember that time. What feelings did you have then?

God always being the same in nature, assures me that the day you came to the Lord, your heart felt joy, peace, and comfort on a level beyond what you'd ever experienced before.

On that day, as we came forward and surrendered our all, we were brought forth into the heart of worship.
There in the center of what worship truly is, stands the Lord Almighty.

He stands with a beaming smile and compassionate eyes, that welcome you despite what your life says about you. In that heart of worship, it is such an intimate place that your heart bursts with tears of joy knowing someone loves you that much.
Realizing such a place exists, there is no possibility of us leaving it. There is no other road that we would be willing to take that would steer us away.

But there is and we do.

Many of us stand far from what our earthly minds would think to be reachable by Him. Many of us stand there because we feel the road to go back to that initial interaction with Him requires strenght that we no longer have to make it there. But if we take a moment to recall the expression on His face when we made the decision to come to Him, we would also remember that His lips also moved as He said: 'I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving - kindness.' (Jer 31:3)

Today the Lord invites you again to come into His presence where He can carry you, wipe your tears away, heal your wounds, and give you once again that joy, peace and comfort you once overwhelmed your heart with.

PRAYER

Dear Abba Father, we recognize that without you our life would have to hope. Our wayward heart steers us away from you, but when we are far away from home, we also see that the choice made was not correct. Bring us back to you, guide us on our way back home.

Amen.