On the way to Good Friday worship service, my friend’s 4-year-old daughter Layla said, “I want God to be in my heart.” My friend was overjoyed! She told Layla to just talk to God and ask him to “come in.”
Layla proceeded to fill their car with the sweet incense of prayer, asking her heavenly Father to enter her heart and make her His child.
But it didn’t stop there.
When they got to church, Layla began to tell everyone that God was living inside her – the pastor, her friends, adults she knew, even people she didn’t know – and soon everyone was rejoicing with her!
During the service, Layla asked her mom for a piece of paper and a pencil. She wrote down the names of a number of friends who were at church; and after worship, Layla told her mom: “These are the friends I want to have come with us to my God-party!” So, off to Otter’s Chicken they went – Layla, her friends, and their families… to have a God-party.
I wonder how often we think of having a God-party. Planning worship week after week can sometimes be difficult and tiring. And as worship leaders we might even occasionally have people who find fault with the songs we’ve chosen or the way we choose to present the music.
But when our worship flows out of the joy of having been redeemed, out of the immeasurable grace we’ve received, and out of the new heart of love we’ve been given – that’s when our worship rises high above whatever circumstances life brings us.
That’s when we can say with King David: “I will praise you, Lord, with all my heart; I will tell of all the marvelous things you have done. I will be filled with joy because of you. I will sing praises to your name, O Most High.” (Psalm 9:1-2)
That’s when, like Layla, we can invite everyone to a God-party!
Have you had any God-parties lately?
Let’s all celebrate what God is doing in our midst right now as well as what he is and has done across the globe and across the millennia! And let’s celebrate Him for just how good He is! What a great article! Thanks for sharing!