Psalm 122:1 (NKJV)
1 I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”
I remember the days of old on any given Sunday Morning. My mother would be yelling out to my father, “Charles, it’s time to get up. We are going to be late for church!” Church was exciting for my mother. For my father it was not so exciting. He went to keep from going to war with my mother.
How many go to church just to appease someone else? For me, I loved going to church. At first it was to be with my friends. As I grew in my love for Christ it was a place where other like-minded believers in Christ gathered together. We were family brought together through the blood of Christ. I’ve always enjoyed being with my blood family. I love my family. Today we are getting together after church to celebrate a birthday.
There is excitement in being together. Memories are shared and the future is pondered. Many of the Israelites journeyed long distances to go to the “House of the Lord.” They came in large groups. They fellowshipped along the way. Today we do not have to make long journeys to go to church. We can worship God wherever we are. But there is something about going to church that is special. It is not all about the songs, or the sermon, or about just going. It is about coming together as family, a spiritual family bound together in the blood of Jesus.
The church is not a building. The building is the place where the church meets. But the building is important. It is dedicated to God. It is the House of God. It is the place where the church meets in worship and fellowship with each other. (It is the first place I was met with laughter when I started singing before anyone else. We remember those things from our early childhood).
David did not have to take long trips to go worship God. David did realize most people travelled long distances to worship God in the Temple. They faced many dangers. But they came. They worshipped God.
Today worship of God for many is just an act of pretense. They go through the motions, then they leave to continue doing what they were doing before they came to “worship.”
Paul writes about true worship in Romans 12:1–2
1I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.
True worship is life changing. True worship transforms the mind, the will, and the emotions of a person. The mind of a worshipper is transformed not conformed. The proof of true worship is a mind, a will, and emotions that war now acceptable to God.
Be excited about going to worship today!