THE YOKE OF WORSHIP

Stearns Homestead contains 48 acres of preserved farmland located in the heart of Parma, OH, a southern suburb of Cleveland. A grayish-white century home with an adjacent red barn greets school-aged visitors who come in busloads to see and pet the farm animals. Volunteers pride themselves on teaching the next generation the value of farming as they give their guided tours.
Across the street from the farm are big name stores and restaurants that have replaced farmland and now populate the suburbs: Target, McDonalds, Starbucks Coffee and Walmart. On the way to the shopping centers, a driver can glance over to the Homestead and see horses and ponies quietly grazing from the feed bags attached to the fence. They all wear bridles over their massive heads and some wear blinders to keep them from seeing the moving cars. Farm workers gently lead them back to their stalls after a day of roaming within the confines of the fence that outlines the property. These horses have undoubtedly been broken and become used to people to ensure safe visits from the public.
Let’s now use this example of broken, tamed horses to help us understand the training that God had to employ with the nation of Israel to make them a kingdom of priests and a holy nation. God gave Moses unparalleled power to lead the Israelites out of Egypt via the Red Sea, and beyond the reach of Pharoah’s army.
Although they escaped with their families, livestock and a few possessions, they were still a wild, untamed bunch, much like an unbroken horse. They journeyed through the wilderness of Sinai and encamped at the foot of the mountain. Again, God revealed Himself with a frightening display of power as He descended upon the mountain with fire.
God called Moses to come to the top of the mountain and gave him The Ten Commandments written on two stone tablets, along with governing ordinances and instructions for worship and building the Tabernacle. Like fitting a bit and bridle for the first time over the head of a horse, these were new rules that God expected Israel to live by. “Now then, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep my covenant, then you shall be My own possession among all the peoples, for all the earth is Mind; and you shall be to Me a kingdom of priests and a holy nation.” (Exodus 19:5-6) Moses’ meeting with God took 40 days on that mountain.
The Israelites became anxious during his absence and turned back to their wild ways that they acquired in Egypt. With the help of Moses’ brother Aaron, they fashioned a golden calf they worshiped as an idol-god and threw a crazed hedonistic party. When Moses finally came down and saw what they had done, he threw down the stone tablets and chastised them for sinning against God.
God was patient with Moses and replaced the stone tablets he had broken. He also extended patience to the nation of Israel as He yoked them with the task of maintaining His laws and performing worship in the desert. Eventually they were tamed by the yoke of worship and willingly offered praise, prayer, and burnt sacrifices to God to hold His presence among them.
This story shows us that worshiping God is not something that we naturally do. Like an unbroken horse that never held a rider, we buck and resist worshiping God. The timeless excuses are: it is a low priority, we don’t have time, we don’t understand the need for it, and we have no appetite for doing it.
But when the blinders come off and we behold God’s matchless power and greatness as described in the Bible, our knees buckle as we profess His worth. We will easily and willingly worship God when we realize the beauty and magnitude of His love for us. It may take some for us to learn, but God is patient. He is willing to tame our wild, unruly nature through The Ten Commandments, His laws and through worship. Amen.