I am an instrument of exaltation
And I was born to lift the name above all names
You hear the melody of all creation
But there’s a song of praise that only I can bring
Who Else, Abby Gamboa
9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his possession, so that you may proclaim the praises of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
1 Peter 2:9, CSB
Growing up my pastor had a story that he loved to tell on Sunday mornings.
The story was about a little boy who had built a toy boat. It had taken quite an investment of time and resources – and had yielded fantastic results. He had his very own, one-of-a-kind toy sailboat.
The boy was very proud of his creation and took it down to the river where he gently placed it in the current. It worked! His boat bobbed on the water, and it filled him with joy – but this joy soon turned to dismay as the boat got swept up in the current and went down the river, disappearing from sight. The little boy tried to catch up to the boat, but the water was moving too fast. He searched high and low for this boat but couldn’t find it. It was lost.
The little boy was heartbroken. He had spent so much time and effort building this toy boat, and now it was gone.
A few weeks later the little boy went to town with his mother, and walking past a pawn shop he saw something incredible in the window – it was the boat he had built! Excitedly he ran in and enquired about the boat – but the shopkeeper would not give him his boat back.
The little boy went home, and he scratched around his room, scratching out coins from all kinds of places – his piggy bank, under his bed, inside the living room couch – and finally, when he had enough, he begged his mother to take him back.
Triumphantly, he returned to the store and put the bag of coins down on the shopkeeper’s counter and bought back his boat.
On the way out he cradled the boat lovingly in his arms, whispering to it: I have made you, and I have bought you – you are double mine.
Oh, what love God has shown us, that while we are His creation, lost to sin, He paid the ultimate price for our salvation?
Not only did He make us, but He also purchased us through the blood of Jesus upon the Cross!
And this great love, if we allow it, transforms us from our wretched state – calls us out of the darkness and into His light as His children, as a chosen people, as a royal priesthood – a people for His possession – that we might declare the goodness of His mercy, grace and love!
He takes us from the depths, transforming the clanging cymbals of our lives into instruments of praise!
God has taken us from the depths and poured out His love upon us, and if we open ourselves up to it, it will fill us and overflow.
We are called to worship God, not just with Sunday lip-service – but in word and deed. He created us with a purpose in mind, He paid for our salvation, and He calls us to be His hands and feet in reaching others.
Who else is worthy of being magnified? Who else is worthy of being glorified in the fruit of our lives?
Let us worship God with all our hearts, minds and strength – let us endeavor to not just be recipients of this great love, but to pay it forward as a form of worship – let us worship Jesus and magnify Him in how we interact with those around us, with how we choose to conduct our daily affairs – every word and deed in perfect submission to His will.
Prayer: Lord, help me to be a testimony of Your great love poured out for all. Shine through, Jesus, in all of my coming and all of my going. Be magnified in my conduct, be glorified in every interaction with my neighbors. Be glorified in every facet of my life – because You are worthy! Worthy of it all! Every step and every breath! Be glorified. In Jesus Name. Amen.