The Call To The Path Of The Life Of Worship
Questions
“Come let us go up… to the …Lord… that He may teach us His ways and that we may walk in His paths…”Isaiah 2:3
As surely as the person of Jesus Christ was given to lead us to the Father to restore to Himself a people to be His Kingdom home, so does the Father give the path of relationship with Him. This is the path of the life of worship.
On a crisp clear day as I walked along the edge of the Spokane River near Post Falls, Idaho I was called to the path of the life of worship.
My walk was a much needed break from an intense education curriculum in Christian counseling. Many others had walked this forested path before me because no grass remained. On its earthen surface a few twigs and pebbles were strewn randomly about. So well-worn was this path that as I strolled along I did not need to pay much attention to where I placed my feet. While I was putting one foot in front of the other and drawing refreshment from the solitude and beauty of this Pacific North West stroll, unexpectedly the “voice” of the Holy Spirit spoke to me. While it was not the audible voice of God, I “heard” His gentle yet distinct call. He beckoned me clearly:
“Come off the beaten path and walk with Me on the high places where the only path is My presence and see from My perspective.”
My eyes were drawn to look toward the forest’s brush and bramble hillside that sloped gently up beside the foot warn path. To my natural eye I could see no discernable pathway there. There were no identifiable markers. Only trees, brush and briar thickets met my gaze. To walk there would be more challenging to my natural senses than the beaten path, but He was calling me to “Come.”
I responded by yielding what to my senses was the known to the unknown, the comfortable to the uncomfortable, the predictable to the unpredictable. I did so by actually stepping off the beaten path into the over growth to ascend that rise and walk through the brush and trees. I discerned the way to go as He led me.
Up that hill and through those woods I walked out in the natural, by faith, the prophetic* picture the Holy Spirit was revealing. From that moment, He was leading me to follow with greater intentionality His call to the path of life in His presence and fellowship.
Although He intercepted me on a literal path in an actual physical setting, the path of a life of worship is within the heart. Likewise the call and the message of a life of worship is to the heart. The call to “come off the beaten path and walk with Me on the high places where the only path is My presence and see from My perspective” is not a call to specific behaviors and actions. No. It is a call to the inner being. It is for the revealing and yielding of the heart. The pathway to Zion runs through the heart [Psalm 84:5].