Tony\'s God (Introduction)

by Balance_Maintained , U.S.A., Sunday, November 20, 2011, 22:43 (4730 days ago) @ dhw

DHW
Why God is so concerned that people should prove how much they love and trust him?

By extension, I will also include in this answer the answer to the question, "Why should God care if we worship him?"

Before we begin this answer, lets first clarify the meaning of worship, as the meaning of this word is critical in understanding the importance of it.

Worship - adoring reverance or regard, to feel an adoring reverence or regard for (any person or thing).

The biblical description of Worship is broken into three main parts:

Humility - The Hebrew word is shaha…, and the Greek word is proskuneo. The outward posture that reflects an inner attitude of humility and respect.

Reverence - The Hebrew word is yare…, and the Greek term is sebomai. The idea of both the Greek and the Hebrew is that of fearing God. It is not so much the fear of terror and dread so much as it is the fear of wonder and awe at the majesty and greatness of the infinite God.

Service - The Hebrew term, abad, and its Greek counterpart, latreuo…, denotes the idea ‘to work, to labor, or to serve.’

The reason that these definitions are so important, is because they take us all the way back to the beginning of God's relationship with man, and the crucial moment with the tree of knowledge. You mentioned in your response to Abel that you had been a teacher, and worked with some very bright students and professors. Now, if you had came into your classroom, and the first thing your student said was, "Up yours old fool, I already got this down pat. I can't learn a damn thing from you." Then the student is quite likely right, he would never, ever be able to learn anything from you because his cup is already overflowing and he is not willing to learn. In other words, he has no humility. He also displayed a lack of reverence for whatever you had to teach, and for your own experience and wisdom. Lastly, he demonstrated that he was not going to put any effort into learning anything you had to offer. Now, think about your children, and how your experience as a teacher no doubt impacted your relationship with them. In order for you children to take the things you said to heart and to be patient enough to wait for you to explain things in good time, they had to love and trust you. And like any parent, God wants, and deserves, our love. So, to sum this portion up, the importance behind God wantin our love, trust, and worship, is the same as the dynamic between a parent and child. Parents hope that their children love and trust them, and like any one who has ever been in the role of a teacher, needs the constiuent parts of worship, not for any self-gratifying reason, but as a necessary component to being able to confer knowledge and wisdom. You said it yourself, "I hope my children love me and trust me. "

DHW
What sort of father would I be if I made them prove it through sacrifices and ordeals?

The other day, my daughter approached her mother and asked for a gift. Specifically, she asked for a new pair of boots. Now, when her mother approached me about it, I could have said, "Go and buy those boots for her." Instead, I said, "Tell her that if she rakes the back yard you will pay her $20."(which was more than the cost of the boots.) What I did, was to made my daughter prove that those boots were worth working for, and therefore worth spending money on. Does that make me a bad parent worthy of "thrown into jail or a lunatic asylum." Now, you are arguing not the principal of making people prove things through sacrifice and ordeal, but the DEGREE of sacrifice. If you are going to argue the degree of the sacrifice, then you also have to argue the degree of the return. One mans life in order to set the stage for the redemption of man kind. Not only that, one fact I do appreciate about this is, God asked nothing of Abraham that he wasn't willing, and in fact DID, do himself. As to my choice of the word "Worth" instead of "Faith" in the tale of Abraham, it is because it was MORE than just faith that was required. It was faith and action. "Faith without works is dead."

DHW
As for peeing on God’s sandals, it was Adam and Eve, not Abel and Cain that did that.

In evolutionary terms, what happens to the parents is inherited by the children, not only in terms of what they inherit genetically, but also in terms of what parents teach their children. If a parent teaches their child something wrong, then the child will normally grow up to believe it, particularly if there is no one there to correct them. Considering that there was no one there to correct any mistake made in raising Cain and Abel by Adam and Eve, the Sons peed on Gods sandals just like the parents. This trend has continued on down through the generations to present day, and will continue long after you and I are dust in the Earth.

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What is the purpose of living? How about, 'to reduce needless suffering. It seems to me to be a worthy purpose.