Devotion "On A Cart"

Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our God burst out against us.  We failed to ask God how to move it properly.” [1 Chronicles 15.13]

I wonder how many things go wrong in our lives because we don't do it right?  I know it seems like a silly question, but it is worth consideration.

How the Israelites carried the Ark of God was important as there were strict rules for how to carry it.  Why the Ark ended up on a cart the first time (when Uzzah died having touched the Ark while steadying it) remains unknown.  However, it is easy to see that some decision was made with no regard for the God's stipulation to carry the Ark on the shoulders of the priests using poles in David's first attempt to relocate the Ark.  Perhaps it was assumed that with the advancement of technology (sound familiar?) or even luxury (God wants us to be comfortable, right?) that it would only be natural that the transport of the Ark keep up with modern advancements in transportation!  Whatever the decision was, it was indeed a huge failure to give the Ark of the Covenant less than the consideration it should have been given.

There is so much that can be drawn from the story of the Ark being brought to Jerusalem but there is one thing that stands out as paramount - it had to be done God's way.

In modern Christianity, we have a tendency to lump everything as "under grace" or "covered by Jesus" and consequently we have allowed our devotion to God to become modernized, comfort-ized, and streamlined.  We have evaluated the average attention span and time restraints of most humans and subsequently pared our devotion (private and corporate) to fit those parameters.  We have largely discarded the idea and consideration of the word "sacred" utilizing much of the same methods of the world in our own worship of God (one is hard pressed to look upon a Christian "worship" concert and a secular concert and tell the difference from appearance only).  We have adopted dark rooms, light shows and even smoke in worship sessions that I personally fear is more of an attempt to be chic than it is to be holy.  We have left off bringing people to Jesus through relationships and decided it is better to lure them in with worldliness.

I do not know what the answer is.  Perhaps I am simply on a rant that is immature and self-serving in itself.  But what if our devotion to God is indeed lacking?  What if we have adopted our own ideas of how it should be rather than God's ways?  And, what if God then largely avoids and stays away from our self-serving ways?  Can we afford to be wrong?  Can we be sure that death and destruction among us is not the direct result of polluted worship and devotion to God?

Father, I don't want to put my devotion to You 'on a cart.'  I don't want to embrace 'easy worship' over accurate worship.  I want to do it right - I want to honor You and You alone!