The Words that create Amens

When Nehemiah finished his work on the walls of Jerusalem, and the gates that completely shut off the inner city, they held a worship service.

Imagine, if you can, this at your church:

"Ezra (the prophet and scholar and for this day the worship leader) opened the book. Every eye was on him (he was standing on the raised platform) and as he opened the book (the revelation of Moses that had been found but not read), everyone stood. Then Ezra praised God, the great God, and all the people responded, "Oh Yes, Yes! with hands raised high. And THEN THEY FELL TO THEIR KNEES IN WORSHIP OF GOD, THEIR FACES TO THE GROUND.

This was some serious worship, huh? I can't get an Amen most Sundays.

Where did we lose our absolute love of worship and when did it go away? When did we lose the passion that existed at one time during worship, when the Sabboth, Sunday, was something to be treasured and waited on? When did it all become rote and boring and all those negative terms?

Nehemiah continues: Nehemiah the governor, along with Ezra the priest and scholar and the Levites who were teaching the people said to all the people, 'This day is holy to God, your God. Don't weep and carry on.' They said this because all the people were weeping as they heard the words of The Revelation.

They wept as they heard the words of scripture. Oh, oh. Oh. They wept as they heard the words. Now we sell those same words on a hundred bookshelves in a hundred thousand book stores and nobody weeps for joy.

Almost nobody.

This year, let His words meet your actions. Understand, maybe for the first time, that many died so that we could hold those words in our hands, those words that have taken thousands of years to reach your hands.

Seems like that might be worth an Amen on occasion. Or maybe even a tear.