Moments with my First Love [UNDER REVISION]

MOMENT 17: The Power of Worship

What usually captures your heart these days? We all wake up with countless choices to make, but before our hands do anything, our hearts have already decided what they value the most. Sometimes we don't even realize that what occupies our thoughts the longest has slowly become what we worship.

Kaya nga, kahit alam naman nating si Lord ang pinakamahalaga, may mga pagkakataong mas excited pa tayo sa promotion kaysa sa prayer, mas invested sa social media kaysa sa Scriptures, o mas natatakot tayong mawalan ng status kaysa mawalan ng intimacy kay God. And these things are hard to admit. Madalas nga hindi natin namamalayan.

We may never verbally say it, but our priorities often reveal what our hearts are worshipping. After all, worship is not only about the songs we sing every Sunday. Worship is whatever occupies the highest place in our hearts. It is whatever influences our decisions, consumes our thoughts, and ultimately receives our obedience.

Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, "All these I will give to you, if you will fall down and worship me." Then Jesus said to him, "Be gone Satan! For ot is written, "You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve." -Matthew 4:8-10

There's one thought that came into my mind upon reading this passage: There is something in worship that even the devil craves for it.

Satan didn't ask Jesus to become evil. He asked Jesus to worship him. Hindi niya sinabing gumawa Ka ng krimen o saktan Mo ang mga tao. He simply offered something that looked desirable in exchange for worship. That made me realize something uncomfortable. The devil has always understood the value of worship more than many people do. He knows that whoever receives worship receives the highest place in someone's heart. That's why he has always wanted what only God deserves.

The desire for God's glory wasn't something Satan developed after he fell. It was exactly the reason he fell. Isaiah described how Lucifer said in his heart, "I will ascend... I will make myself like the Most High." (Isaiah 14:12–15). Imagine that? He already stood in God's presence, witnessed His holiness. He already experienced His glory! Yet instead of being satisfied with serving God, he desired to replace Him. Hindi siya bumagsak dahil kulang ang ibinigay ng Diyos sa kaniya. He fell because even heaven was no longer enough for a heart consumed by pride. Sin entered long before Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit. It began the moment someone wanted God's glory more than God Himself.

Remember, the devil is God's enemy so he is your enemy as well. He is the one who desires to claim the glory that is for God alone, which makes him an enemy of God.

Anyone who claims the Glory that is for God becomes His enemy.

As the Bible stated, "The enemy comes only to steal, kill, and destroy"(John 10:10) and until he isn't finish with his purpose, he will never stop bothering you. Again and again, the devil will bring you into great problems in which the high mountains represents in the main verse.

Maybe that's why the devil keeps using the same strategy until today. Hindi man niya tayo dalhin sa literal na mataas na bundok gaya ng ginawa niya kay Jesus, but every day he places us on different "mountains." Whether it is the mountain of success, the mountain of popularity, the mountain of wealth, the mountain of comfort, the mountain of self-glory or any mounain alike to these. The evil keeps showing us things that seem beautiful and whispers, "Look at what you can have." Notice that he never mentions the cost. He only shows the glory, never the slavery that comes after it. That's exactly how temptation works! It advertises pleasure but hides destruction.