How Great Is Our God: 5 Days Toward a Worship-Led Life by Chris TomlinSample

Day 2: Holy Forever

Holy! Holy! Holy!

It is the oldest song in the book because it’s older than the book. It’s the song of the angels and the archangels, of the elders and the living creatures.

Holy! It’s the song that transcends time—before the past and beyond the future.

Holy! It’s not the song of God’s activity but of God’s identity.

This is where worship begins, not with what God has done but with who God is. Worship begins and ends with the sheer beauty, awe, and glory of God, becoming captured and enraptured by the greatness of God. Only one word can capture this, forever and ever: Holy!

Growing up, as I began to lead worship, people would ask what I planned to do for a living. I remember when I finally got the courage to say I hoped to become a full-time worship leader. Sometimes a well-meaning elder would say something like, “Son, don’t become so heavenly minded that you are of no earthly good.” While I nodded my head in respect, inwardly my heart grieved. Something in me knew that was wrong. I would cling to God’s Word and to Scriptures like Colossians 3:1–4, which seems to say the more heavenly minded you become, the more earthly good you will do.

As we lift our hearts and set our minds on things above, we become caught up in the heavenly vision. Nothing is more needed on earth than the vision of heaven. And what is this vision? Thanks for asking.

This is the worship of heaven that now rises up all over the earth. What could be more worthy of our lives than to join this on-earth-as-it-is-in-heaven movement? This is the worship-led life. The vision keeps going in Revelation 7:11–12. Take a moment to read it.

A thousand generations falling down in worship To sing the song of ages to the Lamb
And all who’ve gone before us and all who will believe Will sing the song of ages to the Lamb

Your name is the highest
Your name is the greatest
Your name stands above them all

All thrones and dominions
All powers and positions
Your name stands above them all

From my first song to my last, these songs of heaven are the shaping influence. In the days ahead we will dig a deep well into these eternal songs. We will remember and reflect, ponder and pray, journal and sing our way forward.

As we walk together deeper into the presence of God, we will find ourselves becoming more of who we were made to be as His people. We will find the heavenly vision breaking forth into our lives on this earth as we grow to walk by faith and not by sight.

SING WITH ME

Queue up the song “Holy Forever” and sing along with me. Pay attention to your posture—posture matters because it expresses the worship of our very bodies before God. You might want to come out of that comfortable chair and get into a kneeling or standing position.

HOW GREAT?

How have you perhaps misunderstood the word “Holy” in the past? How are you thinking about it now? What would it mean to have a holy imagination as it comes to seeing the greatness of God?