Your stories: an act of worship

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Have you read 1 Chronicles 16 lately?

I can almost hear trumpets sounding and bells ringing and angels singing.

In this chapter, David gave Asaph and his fellow Levites a song of thanksgiving to God. He said,

“Give thanks to the Lord, call on his name;

make known among the nations what he has done.

Sing to him, sing praise to him;

tell of all his wonderful acts.

Glory in his holy name;

let the hearts of those who seek the Lord rejoice.

Look to the Lord and his strength;

seek his face always.

Remember the wonders he has done ….

Sing to the Lord, all the earth;

proclaim his salvation day after day.

Declare his glory among the nations,

his marvelous deeds among all peoples.

For great is the Lord and most worthy of praise….

Splendor and majesty are before him;

strength and joy in his dwelling place.

Ascribe to the Lord … the glory due his name.

Bring an offering before him;

worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness….

Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good;

his love endures forever.”

And when David finished, “Then all the people shouted ‘Amen’ and ‘Praise the Lord.’”

What a worship service! I wish I could have stood among that congregation.

And as if that’s not enough—what’s even more exciting—is that we are doing those same things in our memoirs!

In our stories, we are telling others the wonders God has done and his marvelous deeds among us. We are declaring his glory. In the process, we are “singing” praise to him, “Great is the Lord and most worthy of praise!”

This sentence grabbed hold of my heart: “Bring an offering before him; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.” I encourage you to lift up to God (1) your process of writing and (2) your finished stories—lift them up to God as your offering to him.

And hand your stories to your readers as an offering to the Lord, too. Do it as an act of worshiping him in the splendor of his holiness.

What a privilege we have to honor God in this way.

And we the writers, together with our readers, shout, Amen! And Praise the Lord!

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Spread the word. Invite your friends to join us. Everyone has stories to tell!