10,000 ReasonsSample

“Rearranging the Furniture” Ron Owens explained that “when we come to worship, we come to a throne… [and] everything else arranges itself around that throne.” It’s a perfect summary of how our lives work best too. For life to work as it was designed to, Jesus must be the focus, and we must shape our lives around Him. He must become the hub—central to all of our thinking, singing, speaking, and doing. N. T. Wright took this theme further, saying, “Only humans it seems have the capacity to live as something other than what they are (God reflectors, image bearers). Trees behave as trees; rocks as rocks; the sea is and does what the sea is and does.” In other words, though you and I were created to worship God, we have to choose to do it. Every other created thing will automatically perform whatever function it was created to do. But you and I, though we were made to be God reflectors and image bearers, have the capacity to wander away from that call and to arrange our lives around something or someone else instead. And as we do so, Jesus gets shifted off to the side, or maybe knocked out of the picture altogether. In worship, we rearrange the furniture, making sure Christ is in the center place, where He belongs. When we put something or someone else other than Jesus in that place of ultimate prominence, that thing becomes an idol. It is a fallen excuse for a god, with a string of false promises. C. S. Lewis said, “Idols break the hearts of their worshippers.” Whether it’s sexual lust, the love of money, or an insatiable quest for a prestigious career and social status, if any of these things become our god, eventually they will consume us, fail us, or even break us. We see it all the time—people sacrificing themselves on the altar of something that their whole lives now revolve around. It starts to consume them, and eventually relationships fall apart, family happiness fades, and even health begins to suffer. Anything we bow down to will eventually gain mastery over us. It’s not a matter of if; it’s a question of when. Jesus, on the other hand, is a supremely kind master who always satisfies the hearts of His worshippers. Wise hearts soon realize that not only is Jesus praiseworthy, but He is trustworthy too. There is no kinder or firmer a foundation to build our lives on. Life works best with Jesus on His throne in the center and everything else resolving around that throne. As He Himself taught us to pray, “Let it be on earth as it is in heaven” (see Matt. 6:10). Did you enjoy this reading plan? If so, enter to win the full book at http://www.dccpromo.com/10000-reasons