Picture a department store. How easy is it to recognize the appropriate clothing department for our age bracket? Quite easy for most of us.
As we mature, God expects us to grow up. Children don’t wear the same styles as teens, and young adults dress differently from mature individuals. We’ve all heard someone comment, “They should dress their age.” We understand exactly what that means.
The same is true for the way we worship God. He wants us to dress our age when it comes to worshipping him. He expects that of us.
We know the familiar verse from 1 Corinthians 13:11 where it says that when we were children, we spoke as children. When we became men, we put away childish things.
What does that mean to us when it comes to worship? How can we put on a new robe of worship? Let’s see what the Word has to say.
Point 1.
Worshipping is a learned skill. In Proverbs 22:6, the Word says to train up a child in the way he should go, and he will not depart from it.
God had to train humanity to worship him.
In Exodus 24:1-2, the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to the Lord, you and seventy of the elders of Israel. You may worship at a distance, but Moses alone is to approach the Lord.”
The children of Israel were not mature enough to worship God in spirit and truth. Just as a small child has to be taught to raise his hands in worship, so the human race had to learn to come to God in manageable increments. An intermediary was needed, for the people dared not approach God. Moses fit the bill.
Point 2.
Just as a child matures, and we give him long pants to wear, so does the Lord do with us.
Read in Psalm 95:6-7, where David encourages us to bow down in worship, to kneel before the Lord our Maker. In these verses, we learn that he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture. He cares for us as a shepherd for his flock.
This passage tells us that humanity’s worship skills have matured, for we are encouraged to come directly before him. We no longer wear the clothes of a child, but rather, we have put on long pants. We can fall on our knees directly before him.
Point 3.
We can’t get stuck there. No one can be a teenager forever. We must mature past that initial thrill of God-ness that comes from kneeling before him. God has a new robe for us to put on.
Philippians 3:3-4 paints the picture we need to see. Paul describes a mature Christian, one who has put on the new robe of worship. In this passage, we learn that worshipping God does not involve our physical being, for God is not worshipped in flesh. God is worshipped in spirit.
When we worship in spirit and truth, people around us will see that we have put on our new robe of worship, for we will no longer worship him with our flesh alone.
When we were children in God, we needed an intermediary, for we were unworthy to come directly before him. As we matured, God invited us to kneel before him. Now, we are expected to go further, for God wants us to put on a new robe. He wants us to worship him in our spirit.
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