Bowing Down (to the wrong thing)

 Revelation 19:9-10

And the angel said to me, ‘Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’ And he said to me, ‘These are true words of God.’ Then I fell down at his feet to worship him, but he said to me, ‘You must not do that! I am a fellow-servant with you and your comrades who hold the testimony of Jesus. Worship God! For the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.’

REFLECTION:
In some ways, it is amazing that after 19 chapters, John still doesn’t quite get it. Even after all the things he has seen, and all the things he has written about, he still makes the error of falling down to worship the messenger rather than the Message.

So often, we make the same mistake. We are so easily distracted by the individual personalities of our leaders, the concerns of the property board, and the monthly financial report that we begin to look a little bit like John in the above passage – paying homage to the wrong god.

So, a simple call of turning today – let us once again turn away from an all-consuming focus on the life of the church and turn TOWARD an all-consuming focus on the life of Christ, who lives and loves through us this day…

PRAYER:
Holy Lord, holy and mighty, holy and immortal, turn us to your love. Amen.