The Bible with Nicky and Pippa Gumbel, Classic Version, 2015Sample

The God-Centred Life

William Temple, like his father before him, was Archbishop of Canterbury (1942–1944). Among his many remarkable achievements, he wrote a superb commentary on the Gospel of John. He wrote the entire commentary, entitled Readings in St John’s Gospel, whilst praying on his knees before God.

About worship, he wrote:

‘Worship is a submission of all our nature to God. It is the quickening of conscience by his holiness; the nourishment of mind with his truth; the purifying of imagination by his beauty; the opening of the heart to his love; the surrender of will to his purpose – and all this gathered up in adoration.’

Worship saves us from being self-centred and makes us God-centred. You were created to live in a relationship with God. That should be your number one priority. If you put God first in your life all kinds of blessings follow. Because God loves you he warns you of the dangers of disregarding the design for your life.

But what does it mean to lead a God-centred life and why does it matter so much?

Psalm 47:1-9

1. Worship God

The psalmist calls us to worship God. (The original context may have been that God had given his people victory in battle.)

Worship in this psalm sounds quite emotional and noisy: ‘Clap your hands, all you nations; shout to God with cries of joy … God has ascended amid shouts of joy, the Lord amid the sounding of trumpets’ (vv.1,5). It also includes lots of singing (vv.6–7).

There is great exuberance to their worship, as their adoration and amazement of God bubbles over in extravagant action.

These are all outward ways of expressing our worship of the Lord. Worship includes the use of emotions to express your love and gratitude to God and to bring him honour.

As Joyce Meyer writes, ‘God gave us emotions for more purposes than just being enthusiastic at a ball game or about a new car. Surely God wants us to employ our emotions in expressing our love and gratitude to Him ... If we had a proper emotional release during praise and worship, we might not release emotions at other times in improper ways.’

Lord, today I submit myself to you. Quicken my conscience with your holiness. Nourish my mind with your truth. Purify my imagination with your beauty. Open my heart to your love. I surrender my all to your purpose. I worship and adore you.

Luke 18:1-30

2. Pray consistently

The God-centred life is a life of consistent prayer. Jesus taught his disciples to ‘pray consistently and never quit’ (v.1, MSG). You can talk to God not just in church or in set times of prayer, but anywhere and at anytime. I was taught very early in my Christian life to ‘talk as you walk’ through the day.

Jesus tells the parable of the widow and the unjust judge who eventually gives in to her demands in order to stop her bothering him and wearing him out (vv.4–5). Jesus says that if an unjust judge will listen to a widow’s plea, how much more will God listen to those who ‘cry out to him day and night?’ (v.7b).

Lord, today I bring to you again those consistent requests …  

3. Humble yourself

Humility is not something that happens to us. It is something that we are supposed to do to ourselves. Rather than exalting ourselves, we are supposed to ‘humble [our]selves’ (v.14).

If we compare ourselves with others, we may become like the Pharisees, thanking God that we are not like other people – ‘robbers, evildoers, adulterers’ (v.11). The Pharisee was ‘confident of his own righteousness’ (v.9). He fell into the trap of trusting himself. If our lives are truly God-centred (our consciences quickened by his holiness), we compare ourselves with him and all we can say is, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner’ (v.13). The truth is that we are all sinners, and we are all in need of God’s mercy.

I find it very easy to read this passage and to thank God that I am not like the Pharisees. But by doing so I fall into the very trap that Jesus is describing – thinking I am more righteous than others, rather than recognising my sin and need for God. This is exactly the sin of the Pharisees.

God, have mercy on me, a sinner.

4. Be childlike

Sometimes the children or young people in a church are described as ‘the church of the future’. But according to Jesus, they are not just the church of the future, they are the church of today. ‘The kingdom of God belongs to such as these’ (v.16).

Jesus calls us to become like children. He never tells us to be childish (in the sense of being simplistic), but he does tell us to be childlike.

To be childlike is the opposite of being independent and ‘grown up’. Children tend to be open, receptive, trusting, humble, loving and forgiving. The God-centred life is a life of childlike dependence on him.

We become like children again when we show and share our honest feelings, acknowledge how fragile and vulnerable we are and how much we need God and one another.

Frances Young comments that children have ‘an insatiable curiosity and … persistence in asking why or how, energy and drive to explore and discover, a touching sense of wonder and a tremendous capacity for enjoyment. Children are never content to live in the past or settle for the present, but are always looking to the future … The healthy child is creative, imaginative and curious.’  

She asks, ‘Could it not be that the quality Jesus saw in children was the freedom to respond naturally, to feel and express wonder and love and joy, to gaze wide-eyed with open mouth, and then to rush in and explore, probe, take to pieces, find out for themselves …?’

Lord, give me a childlike faith and dependence on you and help me to honour and care for the babies and children in our church.

5. Follow Jesus

There is nothing more rewarding than following Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, ‘We have left all we had to follow you!’ (v.28). Jesus replies, ‘I tell you the truth … no one who has left home or wife or brothers or sisters or parents or children for the sake of the kingdom of God will fail to receive many times as much in this age and, in the age to come, eternal life’ (vv.29–30)

Jesus calls the rich young ruler to the God-centred life. He calls him to give up everything else and follow him (v.22). Perhaps Jesus saw in him the potential to be like the apostle Peter, or Matthew, or one of the others who responded positively when Jesus said ‘follow me’.

The more we accumulate the harder it is to live God-centred lives. The rich young ruler ‘became very sad, because he was very wealthy’ (v.23). It is not impossible for the rich to enter the kingdom of God (v.27), but it is very hard (vv.24–25) – not because the standards are higher, but because the risk appears greater.

In fact, it is impossible for any one of us, including the rich, to enter the kingdom of God on the strength of our own performance (vv.24–25). Yet with God it is possible for anyone, including the rich, to enter the kingdom of God (v.27). Neither our past failings nor our present circumstances need determine our future. With God all things are possible.

Lord, thank you that there is nothing more rewarding than following you. Help me to be willing to give up everything else in order to follow you whole-heartedly.

Luke 18:1-30

6. Serve God

In this passage we see the disastrous consequences of not living the God-centred life, not obeying the law, not carefully following his command (v.45) and not serving the Lord (v.47). We also see the disastrous consequences of this within Israel’s own history.

In my own life, I have seen a glimpse of some of the things described, especially in the years before I experienced a relationship with God: ‘The sky over your head will be bronze’ (v.23). I have experienced the sense of what seems to be a great separation from God.

We see how ‘the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. You will live in constant suspense, filled with dread, both night and day, never sure of your life’ (vv.65–66). These verses describe a life that is the opposite of the peace and joy that Jesus offers.

Of course, even since coming to faith in Christ I have not always lived a God-centred life. Many times I have failed to serve, obey and follow his command. The wonderful news of the New Testament is that Jesus has rescued us from the deserved punishment and curses that would have otherwise followed: ‘Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us’ (Galatians 3:13).

Lord, thank you so much that you died in my place so I can be forgiven and set free from the consequences that I deserve. Thank you that you call me to a God-centred life. Help me to worship you wholeheartedly, to serve you joyfully and gladly, and to obey and follow you always.

Pippa Adds

Luke 18:1–8
 Having read the parable of the persistent widow, I have looked back over some of the prayers I’ve prayed that haven’t yet been answered. I think I need to redouble my efforts and not give up.

Notes:

William Temple, Readings in St. John’s Gospel (Macmillian, 1952)

Unless otherwise stated, Scripture quotations taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version Anglicised, Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 Biblica, formerly International Bible Society. Used by permission of Hodder & Stoughton Publishers, an Hachette UK company. All rights reserved. ‘NIV’ is a registered trademark of Biblica. UK trademark number 1448790.

Scripture quotations marked (AMP) taken from the Amplified® Bible, Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. (www.Lockman.org)

Scripture marked (MSG) taken from The Message. Copyright © 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.