“O God! If I worship Thee for fear of Hell, burn me in Hell; and if I worship Thee in hope of Paradise, exclude me from Paradise. But if I worship Thee for Thy own sake, grudge me not Thy everlasting beauty.”
You shouldn’t be doing this, there are strict instructions to not do it but if you take a scan of those who go to church on a regular basis, who pray and sing like they mean it and if you happen to stop them on a random wednesday afternoon and ask them, why do you do all that you do for this God of yours? You might find yourself on the receiving end of one of four answers. You might find someone who says, “Oh, have you heard of hell? I saw this video on Youtube of a person who died and went to hell. I heard sounds, I saw images, they managed to sneak in a digital camera in hell, and it was terrifying. You are constantly on fire and it is too much.” Sure, it might make sense to hear the man say this while sweating on a sunny afternoon. Hell is scary. Nobody wants to be in it. So you do everything you can to avoid it.
You might find another person who will say, “Have you read about heaven? It is so beautiful, it has rivers, gardens and it is designed by the most amazing creator. Imagine His work, not marred by sinful men, it is beauty beyond words and imagination. That’s where you want to be. Also, did you know the asphalt is gold?” Sure, it does make sense to hear it from a man spending years worth of his earnings for a gold chain he might be wearing while talking to you.
You might find another person who says, “Well, I grew up poor, hoping for a good life and luxurious things in life, now I have everything. I follow this God for all that. He even – …” stop him right there, smile, pray for him and walk away. On this particular wednesday, you do not have time for wrong theology.
But somewhere down the line, you might find a person who gives you a fourth answer. Why do I do everything I do? Why do I go out of my way? Because of HIM! Hug that person, he’s got it right. Buy him a cup of coffee and a blueberry cheesecake, he deserves it, and sit down and listen to him talk about the beauty of God.
That is the whole point! We worship Him, we adore Him, we honour Him, we magnify Him, not because a scary place scares us, or a dreamy place excites us, it is because He is beautiful. And when you find people that can enjoy God like that, aim for that, seek out that company and just bask in the beauty of who He truly is. And go back and find the third guy chasing luxury, knock some sense into him and tell him, Jesus is the Point!