Glorious occupation

Dr. Marc Drake, Sr. Pastor, Sun Lakes Baptist Church

A missionary to South America once asked a new believer, “What do you most like to do?” Through a translator, the man replied, “Being occupied with God.” Now that’s quite an answer! The constant preoccupation of this new believer was God himself. What a great definition of genuine worship this account provides: A changed life being gloriously occupied with the greatness and majesty of God. Worship has nothing to do with keeping up an outward façade of rituals, rules or religion. It is rather all about the inward relationship with God that a believer has through the Lord Jesus Christ. Worship is experiencing God in one’s innermost being – all that we are responding to all that He is. Yes, this is to be every believer’s glorious occupation.

Lamentations 3:24 says, “The Lord is my portion.” Notice that the writer doesn’t say, “The Lord is in my portion” or “The Lord is a part of my portion.” No, God Himself is the sum total of our spiritual inheritance – not simply His grace or His love or His mercy, but the Lord Himself in all his fullness. Thus, He is our all-sufficient portion. If God is all-sufficient in Himself (and He is), then He is surely all-sufficient for us. No wonder the new believer in South America declared that the thing he most liked to do was to be occupied with God! Similarly, it is little wonder the psalmist exclaimed in prayer, “Whom have I in heaven but you? And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you” (Psalm 73:25).

As believers, all we could ever wish for (and more!) is found in God Himself who is our divine portion. Is this your glorious occupation on a daily basis? The key to having this kind of constant devotion is to be always growing in the knowledge of the Lord. So how can we know him more deeply? Here are three ways: (1) See Him in his Word, the Bible, for it is there that God has revealed Himself and supremely through his Son. Therefore, read and study the Bible daily, expecting to encounter the Lord in its pages. (2) See God in worship. Through prayer, singing and hearing the Scriptures preached, we express our wholehearted worship of God. And in the process, we encounter him more fully. (3) See God in the world. King David said, “The heavens declare the glory of God” (Psalm 19:1). When you see the skies, stars and sun above, you are beholding God’s greatness. The creation, of course, is not God, but we certainly see his majesty, beauty and power in what he has created.

Matthew Henry said, “Be not afraid of saying too much in the praises of God; all the danger is of saying too little.” My goal for 2018 is to be more gloriously occupied with God than ever before. I hope it is yours as well.