All there is to life is determination of worth. We live to seek it. We strive to acquire it. We pray to maintain it. But it never stays. Human worth is prodigal. It always runs away.
Why this is so ought to grant us some hint that we were designed to cohabit with worth.
Our toys and accoutrements seem to upgrade our intrinsic value until someone comes along with more swag. We gather persons to induct them into our Facebook kingdoms, hoping that a few more hits might suit us up for even greater alliances. We buy into counterfeit gods to satiate our longing for direction while imbibing our idols with imagined implements.
And all these, to naught. Deep down, the gnawing sense of worthlessness rears its ugly head each time we declare our behoof.
There is however a way to find our true worth.
It is contingent upon discovering the necessity of praise in our lives. The reason for our identity-crash stems from our misguided delight in praising ourselves. We make up our own press releases and take selfies of manipulated angles. We know our pretensions as we feed our apprehensions. We are prone to praise: to lift the worth of someone, something, someplace.
The proper recipient of praise is never towards anyone or anything that is merely created. To give worth to that which merely sprung from the genius of its Creator speaks of a terrible misreading of worth. The God who created all things demands praise not because he suffers from lack of esteem but precisely because He has infinite worth. To declare His worth is to be in touch with the most veracious declaration that awaits human articulation. To live a life devoid of praising God is to die into an existence deprived of true worth.
And so as we turn to God's Story, we are prompted to praise the LORD!
This is not some impassioned plea nor bargain but a sacred must. We are called to stew praise from all our being. The heavens become the limit to our boast. We are called to retrieve all of God's throwbacks not only on Thursdays but for all days. His surpassing greatness must flavor all our initial and final conversations. Since, our mental and affectional capabilities were generated for this singular purpose: we are to praise God at all times! Even our dance must follow His symphonic worth. We are called to loud praise. Not to a hush, but towards a holy rambunctiousness that shatters the glass of our abysmal worthlessness. ... ushering us to the newness of a life anchored to God's incomparable praise.
Through all our present darkness, we are shown the lumens of God's incomparable merit: the worth of Christ must be received.
As He is taken at His Word, worth takes on a most natural dwelling: our little lives magnified for His glorious Praise!
