See the furry face to the left? That is Angel, our four-footed family member. We adopted her as an 8-week old puppy last December as a Christmas gift to the family. From what we are told, she is an Australian Shepherd mix... mix being the operative word... because we really don't know all the dog breeds that are in the mix. Since she is a shepherd, and since we got her around Christmas, and since the heavenly host appeared to the shepherds at the first Christmas, we decided to call her Angel. At times, she lives up to her name and at other times, she doesn't.
Those of you who have cable or satellite television have probably heard of the show, The Dog Whisperer on the National Geographic Channel. Cesar Milan is a dog psychologist, and the show follows him as he goes into difficult doggie situations and teaches doggie owners how to lead and master their dogs. Since bringing Angel into our family, we have become fans of Cesar and The Dog Whisperer show. Since I wanted to avoid having many difficult doggie situations, I decided to buy and read one of Cesar's books: "How to Raise the Perfect Dog through Puppyhood and Beyond." According to Cesar, the perfect dog is calm-submissive. For a dog to be calm-submissive, the dog's master (or pack leader) needs to be calm-assertive. By nature, dogs want to be led by a calm and strong leader. The presence of a calm and assertive leader puts their minds at ease, and enables them to be calm-submissive. So, before we could have a calm-submissive dog, we had to learn how to be calm-assertive (calm being the important word here). The picture above is Angel in all her calm-submissive glory.
By now you are probably thinking, "That's nice that you have a calm-submissive dog... and that she even has a Christian name... but what does this all have to do with worship... and running." Well... to answer your question... a lot. Believe it or not, the Bible was not written in English. The New Testament was actually written in Greek. Our English versions (yes, even the King James Version) are translations of the original Greek. The Greek word that is translated as our English word 'worship' is the Greek word 'proskuneo.' To find out what worship means in the passage from John above, we need to find out what proskuneo means... so stay with me: Proskuneo is a compound word. 'Pros' is a Greek word that means to or towards. The word kuneo is a derivative of the Greek word for dog (kuon) and literally means to kiss, like a dog licking his master's hand. So when you put the words together you get one word that means to kiss the hand of the one who is the object of your respect and adoration. Therefore, worship (as defined by the original Greek) is all about submission, respect, reverence, adoration, love, loyalty, devotion, and intimacy... basically the way a good dog is to its master.
So... back to Angel. Because I have been a calm-assertive leader to her, she sees me as her trusted pack leader, and is therefore calm-submissive to me... she loves being with me... her devotion and loyalty to me is unending... and she showers me with love and affection. When I sit in my office and work at my desk, she comes in and sits at my feet. As soon as I get up to go into another room, she is always close behind... always with her eye on me to see what I am doing and where I am going. When it is time to eat, instead of diving into her food, she waits for me to tell her that it is ok to eat. When we go outside, she doesn't bolt through the door. She waits for me to go out first, and then she follows. When it's time to come in, she waits for me to enter the house first. When I come home from a long day at work, she can't wait for me to come inside. As soon as she hears the sound of the garage door opening, she is there waiting at the door for her beloved master to come in so that she can shower me with affection. When she is getting a little crazy, I tell her to sit, and she sits. When I want to take her on a walk or a run, she is always ready to go... and along the run, she does her best to stay right with me. If she gets ahead, all it takes is a short correction and she comes right back into alignment. Are you starting to get the picture?
Because I am a runner, I wanted to make sure that we got a dog that could go running with me. Because Angel is a shepherd dog, she is a perfect running companion. Shepherd dogs are known for their energy and endurance. When they are out on the range herding sheep or cattle, they have to be able to endure hours of running. Because of Angel's breed, I know that she will make a great running dog one day... but because I love her, I haven't fully released her to be the running dog that she may one day become. Angel, because of her devotion and desire to please me, would probably run with me unto exhaustion or even death if I allowed her to do that. But I know things that she, as a dog, doesn't know. I know that she hasn't yet reached 1 year of age, so her bones, joints, connective tissue, etc. are still developing. A long run could create a permanent injury. I also know that dogs don't handle heat as well as humans do, so a long run in the heat could easily cause her to have heat stroke or even death. I know that black asphalt on a sunny day gets really hot and could burn her paws. I also know that, even though she is a shepherd dog, she has to build up her endurance just like any other living creature. She would probably gladly run with me as far as she was physically capable... but because I love her and care for her, I don't lead her into something that is going to be harmful to her. Because she is fully submitted to me, she would gladly run with me anywhere, even if it killed her... but because I love her I will never take her anywhere that she is not able to handle. The book of Hebrews says this:
"And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us. We do this by keeping our eyes on Jesus, the champion who initiates and perfects our faith." Hebrews 12:1b-2a (New Living Translation)Basically, the way that we run this race of life with endurance is we keep our eyes on Jesus... going wherever He goes, doing whatever He does, even if it kills us... but knowing that because He loves us, we can trust Him implicitly to not run us ragged and kill us, but to perfect us. That is worship.
So... back to Jesus' statement on worship. The Father is seeking true worshipers. He is looking for people that will be calm-submissive before Him... people that are surrendered to Him, fully submitted to Him in reverence, completely loyal to Him, and intimately devoted to Him. Not for His sake... but for our sake. It is through true worship that God can do amazing and unbelievable things in us and through us.
Let's run the race... looking unto Jesus our leader.
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