The One necessary need in Worship

 Read 2 Chronicles 7. 

This is the second time God stopped the service in the dedication of the Temple with His overwhelming presence.  The immediate response was worship and saying, "For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever."  That line was put to music and, as the offerings were made, they sang those words. 

The dedication was followed by continued celebrations and feasts with one last great assembly before returning home. 

Then the LORD appeared to Solomon again to remind him of what is of primary importance.  Worshiping God was not about the building, as beautiful as it was.  It was not about the enormous quantity of the sacrifices that had been offered, though the altar in the Temple could not handle all of it.  It was not about the number of people who attended, though one would assume every able bodied person in the country tried to participate. 

The LORD Himself must be the primary focus of life and behavior.  Worship is not a ritual.  It is a personal relationship with and a response to God. 

In what is surely the most well-known passage of 2 Chronicles, God instructed the king about hard times ahead and the consequences of disobedience.  Yet, if the people will seek to Him, He will be found of them and helped.  "If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land." (v.14) 

So many desire God's intervention and answers to prayer but they fail to humble themselves in surrender to the LORD and be willing to forsake all that displeases Him.  Even for those who try to live godly lives, busyness gets in the way of spending quality time with the LORD.  As Jesus said to Martha who was so busy doing good and needful things, "Martha, Martha, you are anxious about many things, but one thing is necessary." (Luke 10:41) 

That one thing is Jesus.