“Come before His presence with singing…Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name.” Psalm 100:2, 4
When Scripture speaks of seeking first the kingdom of God, it deals first and foremost with one’s approach to God, seeking Him, and that abiding communion with Him. We sometimes forget that our greatest calling is not to a work, a place, or position…it is to God Himself. Paul puts it like this: “God is faithful, by whom ye were called unto the fellowship of His Son Jesus Christ our Lord.” (1 Cor. 1:9) We are called to have communion with God. The Lord Jesus made this so very clear when He was speaking of eternal life: “…And this is eternal life, that they might know Thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom Thou hast sent.” (Jn. 17:3) We are apt to think of “eternal life” as being something to be only known in the future, after death. But that is not what the Lord is saying here, for He speaks elsewhere of the “Spirit of life,” being born by the Spirit, walking by the Spirit, being filled and anointed by the Spirit. Paul even says, that the Spirit IS life. So, our greatest calling is not to add to the work of Christ, not to present to Him that which He cannot accept of our sins and failures, but is it is the receiving of His grace and mercy, so that by the Spirit, we should become new creations in Christ, all that we are and have being cleansed, sanctified to God, with the capacity of RECEIVING by faith all that is in Christ for His glory. The call to communion with Christ is a call to put off all that is of the old Adamic existance, the “old man,” and to put on Christ, His person and power by the Spirit. It is a call to commune with the Father by the Spirit, according to God’s way of the cross, the precious blood of Christ, the quickening Spirit, and the intercessory work of the Lord Jesus as our High Priest, ever making intercession for us. Therefore, in light of the knowledge of what we have been called to be saved from, and saved “unto,” how should we approach the Father in the morning, worshipping Him and the Lord Jesus by the Spirit? It all begins with preparation, an inner ordering of our approach to Him in a manner well-pleasing, and acceptable to Him.
It is one thing to desire to come to God in the morning, to meet Him and He with us. It is quite another to do so with “full assurance of faith,” so that He witnesses to our spirits by His peace, that we are accepted in His presence, well-pleasing in His sight. The first thing in coming to the Father is looking at the Son, the Lord Jesus to whom we belong. He is the way unto the Father, and the very key to full assurance. How? Scripture tells us that He not only is the Way, but that He made an eternal Way, “…into the holiest by the blood of Jesus.” (Heb. 10:19) Assurance does not come by hoping that one is right in one’s approach to God, but being certain of God’s provision by which one can come. Scripture goes on to tell us that this way into the place of greatest proximity to God is “…a new and living way, …consecreated for us, through the veil, …Christ’s flesh.” (Heb. 10:20) What does this mean? It means that a very certain way has been provided by God the Father, through the Son, so that by the Spirit, we can come with certainty and full assurance of faith. True worship of the Father becomes possible, as we enter into His presence with joyful singing, thanksgiving, and praise. With clean hands and a pure heart, by the Spirit, we are then able to worship the Father, commune with Him, in Spirit and truth. The Father is known certainly in this manner.
Dear Father, Make us true worshippers. In Jesus’ name, Amen.