Over the weekend, one of the My Utmost for His Highest readings dealt with our attitudes towards God and being made "holy." The scripture reference was from the story of the rich young ruler:
Mark 10:
24 And the disciples were astonished at his words. But Jesus answereth again, and saith unto them, Children, how hard is it for them that trust in riches to enter into the kingdom of God!
25 It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God.
26 And they were astonished out of measure, saying among themselves, Who then can be saved?
27 And Jesus looking upon them saith, With men it is impossible, but not with God: for with God all things are possible.
28 Then Peter began to say unto him, Lo, we have left all, and have followed thee.
29 And Jesus answered and said, Verily I say unto you, There is no man that hath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my sake, and the gospel's,
30 But he shall receive an hundredfold now in this time, houses, and brethren, and sisters, and mothers, and children, and lands, with persecutions; and in the world to come eternal life.
31 But many that are first shall be last; and the last first.
The main verse was verse 28. Oswald Chambers had this to say about that:
Beware of an abandonment which has the commercial spirit in it – "I am going to give myself to God because I want to be delivered from sin, because I want to be made holy." All that is the result of being right with God, but that spirit is not of the essential nature of Christianity. Abandonment is not for anything at all. We have got so commercialized that we only go to God for something from Him, and not for Himself. It is like saying, "No, Lord, I don't want Thee, I want myself; but I want myself clean and filled with the Holy Ghost; I want to be put in Thy show room and be able to say – 'This is what God has done for me.'" If we only give up something to God because we want more back, there is nothing of the Holy Spirit in our abandonment; it is miserable commercial self-interest.
That hit me like a ton of bricks! We should want to abandon everything and serve God simply to serve God. How many times in our Christian walk do we want to "get away" to be "made right?" God will make that happen, but we should want to serve Him. And we should want to serve Him because we love Him.
I'm not bashing modern hymns or choruses here, but have you looked at many? Have you noticed how selfish they tend to be? Now, there are hymns that are equally selfish, and there are great choruses too. Yesterday in church, we sang How Great Thou Art and it was wonderful. Here are the words:
O Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder
Consider all the worlds Thy hands have made,
I see the stars, I hear the rolling thunder,
Thy pow'r throughout the universe displayed
Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art!When through the woods and forest glades I wander,
And hear the birds sing sweetly in the trees,
When I look down from lofty mountain grandeur,
And hear the brook and feel the gentle breeze;Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art!And when I think that God His Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in;
That on the cross, my burden gladly bearing,
He bled and died to take away my sin;Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art!When Christ shall come with shout of acclamation
And take me home, what joy shall fill my heart!
Then I shall bow in humble adoration
And there proclaim, My God, How Great Thou Art!Then sings my soul, my Saviour God to Thee;
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art.
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to Thee,
How Great Thou Art, How Great Thou Art!
Our God…the one true God. The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. The creator of the universe. The King of Kings and Lord of Lords. My savior. How great Thou art!