God and you

Day 104

'Wearing a linen ephod, David was dancing before the Lord with all his might, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets. As the ark of the Lord was entering the City of David, Michal daughter of Saul watched from a window. And when she saw King David leaping and dancing before the Lord, she despised him in her heart. They brought the ark of the Lord and set it in its place inside the tent that David had pitched for it, and David sacrificed burnt offerings and fellowship offerings before the Lord. After he had finished sacrificing the burnt offerings and fellowship offerings, he blessed the people in the name of the Lord Almighty. Then he gave a loaf of bread, a cake of dates and a cake of raisins to each person in the whole crowd of Israelites, both men and women. And all the people went to their homes. When David returned home to bless his household, Michal daughter of Saul came out to meet him and said, "How the king of Israel has distinguished himself today, going around half-naked in full view of the slave girls of his servants as any vulgar fellow would!" David said to Michal, "It was before the Lord, who chose me rather than your father or anyone from his house when he appointed me ruler over the Lord's people Israel—I will celebrate before the Lord. I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes. But by these slave girls you spoke of, I will be held in honor."'

2 Samuel 6:14-22

This is a long passage, I know, but it tells a wonderful story and makes a huge point. If you are a teenager or a young adult, you will probably feel very self-conscious a lot of the time. I certainly do! Often, we feel as though we need to look like everyone else, so that no-one looks at us and thinks, 'That person's weird', or something along those lines. We want to fit in, and to be normal. And at Church, people often don't celebrate God how they would at home, because they feel awkward and embarrassed.

But this verse tells us that we don't need to be self-conscious before God. God deserves all our glory! David danced out in the street half-naked because he wanted to praise God! He wanted to show God how much he loved him. I love the line which says, 'I will become even more undignified than this, and I will be humiliated in my own eyes.' In front of God, we can be ourselves. We can be as undignified as we want, because we have a God, a wonderful God, who loves us more than anything else. He made the world for us, and he deserves our glory!

So next time you are worshipping, whether it's in church or at home, don't be afraid to show God how much you love him. Take no notice of the people around you - the truth is, they're probably not taking any notice of you, so you don't need to worry. Be undignified! Shout his praise! Be like David, and know that no-one can say that you're doing anything wrong. Don't let anyone tell you you're being weird. God loves you, and he knows how much in that big heart of your you want to praise him. Love God and you can never go wrong.

Prayer

Dear Lord,

Thank you for worship. Thank you that I can shout and sing your praise. Thank you that you love me. Please help me not to be self-conscious when I praise you. Please don't let anyone take notice of me and think I'm strange. help me to be brave and let out all the love I have for you.

Amen