Exhortation

After Jesus finished dictating the letters to the seven churches, the Apostle John looked up and saw a “door standing open in heaven” and heard a trumpet voice call out, “Come up here.”

Since Adam was expelled from the garden, humanity had longed to return. Century after century, no one did. Armed cherubim, veils, and locked doors kept everyone on the outside. When the glory descended, even the priests had to scatter from the Most Holy Place . Then, at long last, John heard these words: “Come up here.”

We hear that invitation every week. Our worship occurs in the heavenly places, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God, and because of that we begin with a “call to worship.” We enter His presence because we have been summoned through the open door.

But we often take our entry into worship lightly.

Without much of a thought, we hurry in, take our seats, and get started. Too many of us come in after the call to worship, and so we never even hear the Lord’s invitation. We skip worship for trivial reasons, snubbing the King of the Universe who has prepared a place for us at His table.

We need to repent of our casualness. If you’re tempted to treat the call to worship flippantly, remember that the whole of God’s history with humanity from Abel and Seth, through Abraham and exodus, conquest and exile, Jesus and the Spirit, all of it aims at this one end: To bring you into God’s presence. If you’re tempted to yawn when the Lord calls you, remember that the Lord of all has given Himself so that you, with John, could hear these words, “Come up here.”