Knees to the Earth

What is the single most passion of my life? Do I love to make Jesus known and to lift up His name so others may know Him more? These are questions I have been pondering lately. This morning I was listening to a message from John Piper on bringing Glory to God and finding true delight in Jesus; it spurred me on toward a few thoughts.....

-because of my sinful nature I am prone to glorifying myself, it's innate, and only through the power of the Holy Spirit can it be any different.

-I am struck as I read in Isaiah 6 at his response to his utter depravity and filth before God. This reminds me of my own reponse toward my sin and heart of rebellion.

"Woe to me!" I cried. "I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the Lord Almighty!" (vs. 5)

Piper says the following about sin in regards to God's glory:

"What’s the nature and essence of sin? A coming short of the glory of God; most profoundly abusing and mistreating God. My sin is not about me, but about the glory of God being defamed by my preferring other things to him. Until you feel the weight of the glory of God; his rejection, hell will seem unjust and the cross will seem like a gruesome overreaction. Oh, that God might open my eyes to feel the weight of what it means to live our lives day by day oblivious to the glory of God for which we were made, and therefore dishonor him and disrespect him and give him a vote of no confidence, and reject him, and belittle him. Hell is not an overreaction and the cross is not too bloody to save such people."

When you see the absolute Holiness and Magnificence of our Holy God, you can't help but bow with "knees to the earth" in humility before the one who has washed our sin away by His own blood. I want so much to have that attitude, being prostrate before His throne in thankfulness. I am so painfully aware of my sin before my Savior, that it leads me to a place of lowliness, a place of total surrender. I have a desperate need to be refined and the dross siphened away until I look just like HIM. That process of sanctification will never end. Until I am with the Lord, I will need His forgiveness and His continual plucking away of anything that is not of Him. So that leads me to the question of how can I delight in the Lord and bring him glory? It's only when I have a right view of God and recognition of my own sin and human condition that this can take place. Bringing God glory means I find total satisfaction in HIM, and that He is the highest and most valuable thing in my life. Everything I do and say, the way I live and love is all for His name. This quest for God's glory is absolutely profound for me....... I feel like I am just now beginning to grasp at the minutest level what this means. I also know that I fail at every attempt to Glorify Him when I try in my own strength. But I know that it is possible and commanded in scripture. God has given us everything we need for life and "Godliness" (2 Peter 1:3). So the goal of my life should be to make HIM look good. How do I do that???? As humans we crave attention and commendation. I love Paul's thought in Romans 7:24 when he says, "what a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death. Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord!" Wow that is powerful.........preach it Paul. Jesus Christ is the only one that rescue us from these mortal bodies and gives us hope.

I want to live, as Piper says, with the knowledge that when I don't glorify God I am glorifying self and actually bringing dishonor to His name. Not only am I not making God look good and giving Him all the worth that he deserves, but I am bringing Him dishonor and defaming His name.

At times when I look at my life here in Nigeria with my own glory in mind, or any of the things which would by the world's standards be considered "good, or worthy of glory," I feel sick. In my sin nature I want the glory, and yet God is the only one who deserves all praise and honor and adoration for everything that I would consider an accomplishment in this life.

One of my favorite songs by Watermark says it quite beautifully:

"Knees to the Earth"

Wonderful Savior, my heart belongs to Thee.

I will remember always the blood you shed for me.

Wonderful Savior, my heart will know Your worth,

I will embrace You always as I walk this earth

Be blessed, be loved, be lifted high,

Be treasured here, be glorified.

I owe my life to you my Lord,

Here I am.

Beautiful Jesus, how may I bless your heart?

Knees to the earth I bow down to everything You are,

Beautiful Jesus you are my only worth

So let me embrace you always as I walk this earth

Here I am

Here I am

Here I am

Knees to the earth......

"Yes, Lord, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts."

Isaiah 26:8

What should my reponse be? all I can do is fall on my face with knees to the Earth and thank God for who He is. More of HIM and less of me.