Open Up The Heavens

Becoming What You Behold

I have heard it said, “you become what you behold.” Let’s think about it. Maybe from a young age your Dad drug you along to Major league games at the ballpark. And now, at the faintest smell of popcorn, or at the the first sound of the organ on Sunday morning, the craving arises. In that moment, all things in life get blurry and your mind wanders off to the lights, the music, the dogs, the feeling of being on the edge of your seat at the bottom of the 9th… It runs deep inside of you. You have beheld the glory of the ballpark and you have become a lifelong fan. It’s who you are. You wear the gear. You know the stats and when you talk about the team you strangely refer to them as “we.”

 

Or maybe you are  like me, and when you were old enough to hold a fishing pole, your Dad put one in your hand with a 3 pound rainbow trout on the other end of it.   And now when you walk by a cottonwood tree, or breeze by a water feature downtown, everything in life gets blurry and your mind begins to swim upstream to thoughts of fish fry’s and early morning sunrises on a glassy lake, all the ones that fell off your line that are surely still out there somewhere. You have beheld the glory of “the catch” and you have become a fisherman.   It’s who you are. You talk about little things that spin and spawning cycles; And REI should personally build a monument to you for keeping them in business.  

 

It is true. We become what we behold. We could take a look at the “beholding” moments of Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah, David, Peter, or John; We could look at these moments when they BEHELD the glory of the Lord, and what they BECAME as a result.  We, as worship leaders, have the most incredible, eternal opportunity every time we gather together.   We get to be a part of God showing off! We get the great honor of lifting up the Name above all names and having a front row seat to the fruit of what happens to folks when they SEE God.  We see lives change! We see people dropping their preferences, selling their possessions, loving their spouses, BECOMING followers of this One that they have beheld.  We get to experience in the lives of people what King David put into language in Psalm 63:

 

O God, you are my God

earnestly I seek you

my soul thirsts for you

my flesh faints for you,

as in a dry and weary land

where there is no water. 

So I have looked upon

you in the sanctuary,

beholding your power and glory

because your steadfast love is better than life,

my lips will praise you.

so I will bless you as long as I live

in your name I will lift up my hands.

my soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food

and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips

 

And that should be our vision, shouldn’t it? Not folks being ok with our song choices and arrangements. Not a successful attempt on getting our congregation’s posture to change.   Not hitting a home run in crafting a set to correspond with the message. Not having musical outlets for our church members. All those things can be good, but they are not our goal. We want people to BEHOLD the Son of God in a way that they BECOME like him.    

 

What an honor it is to lead people in worship!  And the best way you can do that is to, right now, “in all of your ways, acknowledge Him.” “Offer your life, right now, as a living sacrifice to God.” Take a moment to ask the Father to show you the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ through His Word and by His Spirit for His glory. Beloved, may our praise rise from that place of beholding His beauty. And we will say “because Your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise You!”