by jimwalton » Mon Oct 13, 2014 3:32 pm
God created you in his image. Like it or not, you have personality, free will, rationality, the capacity to love, the capacity to create, an appreciation for beauty, the ability to learn, a conscience (for knowledge of rights and wrongs), strength, and many other things. They are all gifts from God. In addition, God in his love and power has created an incredible environment of diversity, beauty, complexity, balance, and life. They are also gifts from God. What you're saying is you don't want God or anything to do with him, but you want all the "candy"—all the gifts that he has freely given to you. That's like gaining emancipation from your parents, and then instructing them to send all your holiday and birthday presents to your new residence, but you don't want anything to do with them personally. That's incongruent. What's so immoral about God wanting to bless you with gifts beyond your imagination, but not sending them if you sue him for emancipation, signing on the line that you don't believe in him and want nothing to do with him?
Why should I worship God? First, God needs to be worshipped because he is Holy (completely Other), majestic, all-powerful, spectacular, awesome, perfect, eternal, love, just, all-knowing, and as such, is worthy of a small creature such as myself recognizing the Greatness in whose presence I live.
Second, God needs to be worshipped because he has acted sacrificially on my behalf to save me from my sin, at great expense to himself, as an act of love. The magnitude of what he has done for me evokes a profound sense of gratitude, respect, love, worship, and obedience.
Third, because of the relationship I am privileged to have with God, I recognize that every thought I have, every attitude of my heart, and every action I do is essentially an act of worship: recognizing and rehearsing all of who God is, and giving all of myself to him. Why does God need that? That part is what I need. It's only right, given who he is and what he has done.
What's immoral is not recognizing what God has done for you by offering him at least a thank you.