Gifts to Jesus, John Piper

"Therefore the only gifts that we can bring Jesus are gifts of praise, thanks, longing, and neediness. A fountain is not glorified by us hauling buckets of dirty water up the mountain and pouring them in. A fountain—a spring in a mountain—is glorified, rather, by us lying down at the edge of the stream, putting our face in, drinking our fill, and getting up and saying, "Ah!" That's called worship. Then we take a bucket, dip it in, walk down the hill to the people in the valley who don't know that the spring exists, and we say, "Taste this! It's right up there, and his name is Jesus!" The kind of gift that the fountain wants is drinkers, because then he looks truly overflowing, rich, and self-sufficient. And that's exactly what he wants to look like."John Piper