Pastor Mike's Coffee Break
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"The Object Of My Affection" 8/15/08
“The devil said to Him, ‘I will give you all this domain and its glory; for it has been handed over to me, and I give it to whomever I wish. Therefore if You worship before me, it shall all be Yours.’ 8 And Jesus answered and said to him, ‘It is written, you shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only.’” (Luke 4:6-8)
Jesus taught us that the way to victory in the Christian life is through worship. True worship has to deal with the object of my affection. I can’t be worshipping God on Sunday, and worshipping my selfish pursuits on Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Who or what is the object of your affection? Worship is not just singing songs or playing an instrument, it includes that, but it’s much, much more. Worship speaks to the way in which I live my life. So in a practical sense I can worship God with my eyes. I can worship God by what I watch on TV. I worship the Lord by the kind of movies and video games, I allow myself to play or watch. I worship God by the kind of music I listen to, or the kind of conversations I engage in. Worship means my eyes and my thoughts belong to Jesus, whether at home, at my place of business, or while driving my car down the road. The object of my affection must be Jesus and Him only. I will not bow my knee to evil. I will not engage myself in fantasies of the mind. My eyes and my thoughts belong to the King of Glory. That’s why I take my thoughts captive. I don’t serve God because of a legalistic rule that says I am bound to hell if I don’t. It’s because I love Jesus and because He is the object of my affection.
Centering my attention on Jesus,
Pastor Mike