I was glad when they said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" Psalm 122:1
When King David wrote that text, I'm sure he meant what he said. He really was glad to go to the Lord's house.
Statistics say that many Christians don't always share his opinion.
Of course, most of us don't feel as strongly about not going to church, as did the young man from Plain City, Utah.
Two deputies from that community found him in his house where he had run after he had parked his father's Dodge Intrepid in the driveway, after he had run a stop sign, and after he had been driving recklessly.
When the young man's father asked him why he had done these things, he simply replied, "He didn't want to go to church."
Oh, did I mention the young man is seven years old?
Too young to prosecute, but old enough to know better.
In truth, most of us have those days when we don't want to join our fellow believers in worship. When those times come for me, I remember a man from one of my congregations who was quite deaf. He was so deaf even our amplified hearing aids didn't help him.
Still, he was one of our most faithful attendees.
One day, I wrote on a piece of paper, "You can't hear the sermon or the music, why do you walk to church so regularly?"
He replied, "I want my neighbors to know whose side I am on."
That man recognized we don't come to church just for what we get out of it, we sometimes go to church to support others who are there, or to make our witness, or to show our thankfulness to the Lord for what He has done for us in Jesus' life, death, and resurrection.
It's something to think about next Sunday -- and the Sunday after that.
THE PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, create in us clean hearts and renew a right spirit within us. When the devil whispers in our ears, "You don't have to go to church!", let us reply, "We want the world to know we are on the side of the Savior who gave His life to give us forgiveness and eternal life. In Jesus' Name. Amen.
In Christ I remain His servant and yours,
Pastor Ken Klaus
Speaker emeritus of The Lutheran Hour®
Lutheran Hour Ministries
Today's Bible Readings: 1 Chronicles 7-9 1 Corinthians 7:20-40
To Download Devotion MP3 to your computer, right click here and select "Save Link As" or "Save Target As" or "Download Linked File As"