Every knee shall bow

Therefore God has highly exalted him
and bestowed on him the name that is above every name,
so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father. Philippians 2:9-11

SOME PROFESSED CHRISTIANS WILL BOW BEFORE THE LORD FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THE DAY OF JUDGMENT. While our worship need not be a mere public display of emotion and sensationalism, I cannot help but believe that our restrained tradition is lacking something significant. I often wonder what our posture may reveal about our character.

Have we become a people who are unimpressed, unmoved, and unwilling to unleash the heart that God so beautifully shaped to correspond to His? Will we stubbornly resist passionate pursuit of the sacred romance that Christ himself fought so valiantly to court? Do we fail to grasp the wonder of His essence or to feel the full weight of His presence? Or, is it that we are just afraid to love and be loved? Is it fear of intimacy and vulnerability that freezes us at the level of study and rote obedience, just shy of falling in love with Jesus?

Are we more moved by football than the gospel call? Do we react more visibly to a touchdown than a life laid down? Does a 4th quarter fumble grip our hearts more tightly than a King made humble? Forgive the satire and rhyme, but just why is it that we sit or stand so rigidly before our King, Savior, and friend? What would we infer of the sports fan who stoically watches through every critical second of play? What message would such a seemingly indifferent greeting send to a dear friend whose face we’ve missed for many years? Just what does our posture say about our character? Conversely, what might such a physical expression of humility and reverence as bowing down produce in our character?

Don’t let dignity stand in the way of honoring deity. Let His awesomeness and majesty bring you to your knees even now. Let His creation, His word, His love, and your humility evoke an irresistible response from deep within your being. Bow before Jesus Christ and confess that He is Lord above all.

In the day that every knee shall bow, I dare say we will not be so concerned with the relative trivialities of social acceptance, joint ailments, or finely woven and freshly cleaned fabrics. In the brilliant ray of His glory, we will fall to our knees before a rational thought may attempt to ordain the orthodox decorum.

Worship is an inward reverence,

the bowing down of the soul in the presence of God.

ELIZABETH GEORGE