WORSHIP,
MOTIVATION FOR

WHEN the American hostages came home from Iran on January 20, 1981, the first thing they did when they got off the plane was kiss the ground. No matter what star or achievement they had earned in the armed services, when they hit the ground from Iran, they bowed down. Home sweet home. Putting their clean lips on that dirty tarp, they kissed it. They went down. Because they knew where they had been and they knew where they were now. You know why folks stop bowing? Because they forget where they’ve come from. They forget that they have been hostages in Satan’s territory, and now they have been made free.1064

[Salvation, Gratefulness for]

Ex. 20:2; 1 Sam. 12:24

EVERYBODY knows what groupies are. Groupies are people who follow celebrities around, like movie stars, singers, or athletes. They gather together to be near the celebrity. They follow the rich and the famous for a couple of reasons. One, they just want to be in their presence. They just want to see them. They just want to touch them. They follow because they want to be near the one whom they adore.

There is a second reason they follow them. Sometimes they want to get something from them such as an autograph. Maybe they want a hug or a kiss or some kind of attention. They are groupies because they want to be near them and they want to receive from them.

Did you know being a groupie is a form of worship? It is following the one you idolize so you can be near them and so you can get something from them.

I remember when I was doing a chapel for the Dallas Mavericks when Michael Jordan was with the Bulls and there would be groupies outside waiting for Michael to come from the hotel to the arena. They would gather around in groups with slips of paper in hand because they idolized Mike. They wanted to be in his presence and they wanted something from him.

Now, there is a legitimate side to that and there is an illegitimate side. But here is my point. God is looking for some groupies. That is my point. God wants some groupies—people who want to be in His presence and who come to Him to meet their needs.1065

[Jesus, Relationship with]

Ps. 16:11; 51:11; James 4:8

THERE is a story of a dog that loved its master. The master was just a little teenage boy, but this dog was full of joy and his tail wagging all the time. When the boy went to bed, the dog jumped up on the bed and lay right beside him. When the boy got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, the dog would jump out of the bed, walk to the door, and sit at the bathroom door until the boy got out and then jump back up in bed. When it was time for breakfast, the boy would get up to get ready to go to school, the dog would jump up, follow the boy to the table, and then sit at the boy’s feet until the boy finished eating and was on his way to school. He would walk outside with the boy until the boy went to the bus stop. Then the dog would sit down and wait for the bus with the boy. When the bus came, the boy would get on the bus. The bus would drive off. The dog would run behind as far as it could before the bus outpaced it. When the boy came home from school, the dog would be sitting right there at the bus stop, waiting for the boy to come home. The boy would then go to his home. The dog would walk with him, and sit at his feet while he ate dinner. He would then follow him around until it was time to turn in for the night. At this point, he would jump back up on the bed and go through the whole process the next day and the next, day in and day out, always wagging its tail.

How can a dog do that day in and day out for his little teenage master? Because when the boy found the dog, it was wandering the street. It was a mangy, unkempt mutt. It was headed for sure disaster by the dogcatcher. If that dog had ever been caught, it surely would not have been adopted but instead eradicated. However, this boy found that wandering, mangy dog, took it home, washed it, bathed it, resuscitated it, fed it, and best of all loved it. It became apparent from the dog’s tail that the dog never forgot it. Wherever that boy was, that dog was going to be because it was evident that dog never forgot where it had been when that boy found him.

Some of us were wandering on a street called sin. We were just mangy sinners. Some of us sinned and didn’t think about it. Some sinned and didn’t care. Others of us were secret sinners. We didn’t sin so folk could see, but if that closet ever got revealed, it would be clear that we were just as mangy as the folks who were public. Others of us were white-collar, sophisticated sinners who never did anything outright but just kept it all in our minds.

No matter what kind of sinner you were, He found you. The grace of God discovered you where you were. You heard the gospel of Jesus Christ and He saved you. And my only question is this: where would you be if He hadn’t found you? Is your gratefulness evident in the way you respond to the Master?1066

[Salvation, Gratefulness for; Thanksgiving, Motivation for]

Deut. 8:10; 1 Sam. 12:24; Col. 1:12