Keys to the Kingdom – Carolyn Tucker
In 1969, my Dad and I began watching the weekly TV variety show “Hee Haw” which featured comedy skits and country music guest stars. I was impressed with the musicians and singers as they performed their hit songs, and we laughed aloud at the outrageous silliness portrayed by the regular cast. Every week Grandpa Jones was asked, “Hey Grandpa, what’s for supper?” He would stop washing the fake window and reply something like, “Fresh cornbread slathered in butter, smoked ham and pinto beans, polk salad and turnip greens.” Then in unison everyone would shout, “Yum, Yum!” Eating together has always been a warm and fuzzy way to share food and love, whether you live in the hills and hollers or in the big city.
As we look forward to the cherished day of Thanksgiving, let’s think about feasting on something other than food. “So let us feast upon Him (Christ, God’s Lamb) and grow strong in the Christian life, leaving entirely behind us the cancerous old life with all its hatreds and wickedness. Let us feast instead upon the pure bread of honor and sincerity and truth” (1 Corinthians 5:8 TLB).
Our bodies were made to love, serve, and worship the Lord, which is why substitutions do not satisfy. We should desire to worship the Lord with our bodies. Worship is a believer’s grateful response to the holiness of God. When mentioned in the Bible, worship is authentically individualized and it is not listless or motionless. Every time there is true worship, some part of the body is involved as indicated in the following scriptures:
Bowed head: “So the people believed; and when they heard that the Lord had visited the children of Israel and that He had looked on their affliction, then they bowed their heads and worshiped” (Exodus 4:31 NKJV). Bowed body: “Let the rich of the earth feast and worship. Bow before Him, all who are mortal, all whose lives will end as dust” (Psalm 22:29 NLT).
Kneeling: “When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth” (Ephesians 3:14,15 NLT). Uplifted hands: “Daily I will worship you passionately and with all my heart. My arms will wave to You like banners of praise” (Psalm 63:4 TPT).
Falling prostrate: “And Moses and Aaron went into the tabernacle…and came out and blessed the people. Then the glory of the Lord appeared to all the people, and fire came out from before the Lord and consumed the burnt offering…on the altar. When all the people saw it, they shouted and fell on their faces” (Leviticus 9:23,24 NKJV).
Singing and speaking: The mouth reverently and joyfully responds in worship also. “Remember what Christ taught and let His words enrich your lives and make you wise; teach them to each other and sing them out in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing to the Lord with thankful hearts. And whatever you do or say, let it be as a representative of the Lord Jesus, and come with Him into the presence of God the Father to give Him your thanks” (Colossians 3:16,17 TLB).
The Key: Celebrate Thanksgiving, feast upon the Bread of Life and worship Him with all your might.