If we would stop and consider all that the Resurrection means for those of us who claim Jesus as our Lord and Savior, we would (I think) be much ashamed at how meager our attempts at praise and worship really are.

For a God Who can do exceedingly, abundantly, more that we can ever imagine, we fall short of expressing our gratitude toward Him for His goodness, His mercy, and His grace. We all (self included) should be more extravagant in our obedience, our service, our worship and our praise, of the God of our salvation.

Here are a couple of examples of those who were extravagant with God:

“Then David danced before the Lord with all his might; and David was wearing a linen ephod. So David and all the house of Israel brought up the ark of the Lord with shouting and with the sound of the trumpet Now as the ark of the Lord came into the City of David, Michal, Saul’s daughter, looked through a window and saw King David leaping and whirling before the Lord; and she despised him in her heart.” — 2 Samuel 6:14-16

David was so excited to have the ark, which represented the presence of God, with him in Jerusalem, that he expressed his excitement by dancing and whirling before the Lord, and before all the nation of Israel. He was not concerned with the opinions of others — his only concern was heartfelt worship of his God. David was determined to give himself completely in his worship and praise of the God Who loved him. Fully committed to serve and worship the God he loved, David danced “like nobody was watching.”

Then we have Mark 14:3-9 (NKJV). Please read that passage.

We learn that Mary washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and dried them with her kisses and her hair, before pouring perfume worth hundreds of dollars on His head. Mary was unconcerned by the cost of her worship; her only concern was to worship Her Lord and Savior, with all that she had, including her tears and kisses, as well as the very costly perfume.

David and Mary were extravagant in worship. Oblivious to the eyes and ears of the onlookers, they gave themselves completely to worship and praise.

What about us? Are we determined to let out praise and worship be extravagant?

If not, why not?

The Rev. Bobby Thornhill is a retired pastor.