Today’s Text: First Chronicles 5-9
Key Text: First Chronicles 9:33-34
“Those who were musicians, heads of Levite families, stayed in the rooms of the temple and were exempt from other duties because they were responsible for the work day and night. All these were heads of Levite families, chiefs as listed in their genealogy, and they lived in Jerusalem.”
In the long genealogical lists and outlining of all the special responsibilities that were given to the people of Israel – worship is given special focus. Much attention is given to the work of the Levites and others who had the responsibility of helping all the people worship in the proper way.
Thousands of years later – God has still called certain individuals to serve as worship leaders and “gatekeepers” for the church. The best of these take their work seriously – as a life calling – not just a job.
How easy it is these days, though, to put worship in a little box – one space on a weekly calendar – of just an hour or two – and leave it at that.
I believe the people of God are called to do much more than that.
Not just the clergy or musicians or worship leaders among us, but all of us, are called to do much more than that.
I believe we are called to make our whole lives acts of worship of devotion.
One wayto do that is “do worship” – the ritual, the music, the readings, the recitations – on a regular basis in a designated “house of worship.”
But surely another, even more profound way, is to let our whole lives be a prayer and act of celebratory service to God.
Worship as life – and life as worship.
I like the sound of that.
How about you?
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By Paul Simrell
The Reverend Paul W. Simrell has served for over thirty years in a variety of congregational and institutional settings. He is a recognized minister with standing in the Virginia region of the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) in the United States and Canada and is nationally endorsed by the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) for specialized ministry in both pastoral counseling and chaplaincy. Ordained in 1982, he has served congregations in Kentucky, Texas, Florida, and Virginia. He currently serves as the pastor of Elpis Christian Church, a small, historic congregation located just a few miles west of Richmond, Virginia. Elpis is the Greek word meaning “expectant hope.” He also serves on the associate clinical staff of the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care, Richmond, Virginia, both as a pastoral counselor and a ministerial assessment specialist, specializing in executive, clergy and relationship coaching. He is a graduate of the University of Florida and Lexington Theological Seminary and has done advanced clinical training in chaplaincy and pastoral counseling at the University of Kentucky Medical Center in Lexington, Kentucky, Children’s Medical Center and Parkland Hospital in Dallas, Texas and the Virginia Institute of Pastoral Care in Richmond, Virginia. He is a Certified Pastoral Counselor, an ACPE Practitioner, and a member of the American Association of Christian Counselors. He is a Certified Facilitator of the Prepare-Enrich relationship assessment and skills-building program and served as a volunteer chaplain for over twenty years with the CJW Medical Center campuses in Richmond, Virginia. His avocational interests include playing the piano and drawing. He is very happily married to his wife Elizabeth Yeamans Simrell, a free-lance writer, who is also a Certified Facilitator for the Prepare-Enrich program.
Good company in a journey makes the way seem shorter. — Izaak Walton
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