I remember the days of Sunday School. I loved it! Bible stories and singing. Friends. Cookies and punch! Sometimes, I would score the ever-coveted gold star. Somehow intended to communicate exemplary behavior, it merely indicated that I was there, not that my heart had changed, or that I had moved in a direction of obedience or love, but that I was there. Maybe even, that I had learned a verse, but again not that a change had taken place in me. Still, I was happy to get the stellate recognition, though my motives may have been suspect.
As we get a little bit older, and hopefully a little bit wiser, we are able to assess the motives for our actions, and we can truly ask the question, “Why do I go to church?” Are we still searching for the “Gold Star” of sorts?
It’s Sunday morning and you make your way to church. Your usual parking space. The old familiar building, your old familiar seat. And the same people up front, doing what they seem to do every week.
“So, why am I here?”
Why do you come to church, and why do you come to this church?
Do you come to worship God?
Do you seek the full counsel of God?
Do you seek to follow Jesus?
Have you prepared to be here today?
Have you been speaking to God as to how He may soften your heart?
Do you come here for a blessing?
Do you come here to worship the King of Creation?
Do you truly desire to be conformed to the image of Christ?
Have you prepared to be here?
Have we even opened the Bible in the last week?
Public recognition? In quest of the Gold Star?
We may be a little fuzzy on why drives us in through the doors. Sometimes, I think we forget that we are seeking to enter just a little bit more into the glory of God. Everything we do, or should do is under the banner of giving glory to God.
Some do come to worship. Some come to fellowship. To serve. To learn. Others don’t know why they come.
It’s sort of a given: We come to worship the King of Glory.
So you may ask yourself…
How much church do I need? How much is the right amount? Well, that is a question each individual needs to ask themselves.
Is one hour enough?
Can 1 hour during the week affect the remaining 167 hours?
Is one hour of exalting the Divine Shepherd sufficient?
Is that all you need to be conformed to the image of Christ?
The greater question is am I worshipping God the entire week. Am I ready, willing and eager to worship Him with everything that I have?
God isn’t handing out gold stars for attendance and minimal engagement. He isn’t “grading” based on being on time, bringing our Bible, or the size of our offering in the basket. He isn’t grading on a curve. He is offering eternal intimate relationship with Him to those who have been covered in the blood of Christ, His Son.
Come to worship the Shepherd of your soul, the One who has redeemed you from the dead, the One who has declared you holy, the One who raises you to life eternal.
Gold stars are not always bad, but of all the reasons to make your way to any given church, may I suggest that you consider worship of your loving God as the highest good of your presence. Consider a heart yielded to Him the greatest gift you have to bring.
Psa. 146:1 Praise the LORD!
Praise the LORD, O my soul!
2 I will praise the LORD while I live;
I will sing praises to my God while I have my being.
3 Do not trust in princes,
In mortal man, in whom there is no salvation.
4 His spirit departs, he returns to the earth;
In that very day his thoughts perish.
5 How blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob,
Whose hope is in the LORD his God,
6 Who made heaven and earth,
The sea and all that is in them,
Who keeps faith forever;
7 Who executes justice for the oppressed,
Who gives food to the hungry.
The LORD sets the prisoners free.
Psa. 146:8 The LORD opens the eyes ofthe blind;
The LORD raises up those who are bowed down;
The LORD loves the righteous,
9 The LORD protects the strangers;
He supports the fatherless and the widow,
But He thwarts the way of the wicked.
10 The LORD will reign forever,
Your God, O Zion, to all generations.
Praise the LORD!