The Word of God Is At Work In You

A — I admit I can’t in myself do what needs to be done.
P — I pray for God’s help.
T — I trust a particular promise he has given.
A — I act to do whatever God is calling me to do.
T — I thank him for his help when I am done.

God wants worshipers before He wants workers.

God of gods and Light of light, He was born of a virgin, suffered under Pontius Pilate, overcame the sharpness of death and opened the Kingdom of heaven to all believers.  Back of this must be a purpose, for God has intellect.  Intellect is one of the attributes of deity and, therefore, God must have a reasonable purpose that can stand up under the scrutiny of sanctified human reason.

The supreme reason the Lord was born of the Virgin Mary to suffer under Pontius Pilate to be crucified, die, and be buried; the reason He overcame death and rose again from the grave is that He might make worshipers out of rebels.  We are the recipients of a grace meant to save us from self-centeredness and make worshipers out of us.

Thomas Boston said the difference between man and beast is that a beast looks down and a man is made to look up.  A man can engage the God above while the beast goes about and only sees the ground underneath its short legs.  But man can see into the heavens above.  A beast bows under his burden, but a man lifts his heart in praise to his Burden bearer, Jesus Christ.

God is infinitely more concerned that He has worshipers than that He has workers.  Unfortunately, most evangelicals do not share this concern.  For the most part, evangelicals have been reduced to the position where God is a supervisor desperately seeking help.  Standing at the wayside, He tries to find how many helpers will come to His rescue and bail Him out of a tight spot.  We mistakenly believe that God needs workers, and so we cheerfully say, "I'll go to work for the Lord." If we could only remember that as far as His plans are concerned, God does not need us.

We should work for the Lord, but it is a matter of grace on God's part.  However, I do not think we should ever work until we learn to worship.  A worshiper can work with eternal quality in his work but a worker who does not worship is only piling up wood, hay and stubble for the time when God sets the world on fire.  God wants worshipers before He wants workers.  He calls us back to that for which we were created -- to worship the Lord God and to enjoy Him forever.  And then out of our deep worship flows our work for Him.  Our work is only acceptable to God if our worship is acceptable.

[A.W. Tozer, The Purpose of Man: Designed to Worship, pg. 94-95]