I love Sundays. I know
many people spend their week counting the hours until Friday rolls around, but
I’m that way with Sunday. When one
Sunday is over…I can’t wait until the next weekend when we get to be in the
Lord’s house once again. I am so blessed
to attend a church where you can feel the Holy Spirit working each and every
Sunday and it makes me wish there was more than one Sunday each week.
I usually wake up on this day of rest anxious to get to
church. I rarely have trouble getting
out of bed and hitting the shower because I know where I’m headed. The same was true yesterday morning as I
prepared to make the trek to our church, but when I opened up God’s Word to
read my devotions before we left, I was hit with these heartwarming words from
Ecclesiates 1 written in The Message version:
Smoke, nothing but
smoke. [That’s what the Quester says.]
There’s nothing to
anything—it’s all smoke.
What’s there to show
for a lifetime of work,
a lifetime of working
your fingers to the bone?
One generation goes
its way, the next one arrives,
but nothing changes—
it’s business as usual
for old planet earth.
The sun comes up and
the sun goes down,
then does it again,
and again—the same old round.
The wind blows south,
the wind blows north.
Around and around and
around it blows,
blowing this way, then
that—the whirling, erratic wind.
All the rivers flow
into the sea,
but the sea never
fills up.
The rivers keep
flowing to the same old place,
and then start all
over and do it again.
Everything’s boring,
utterly boring—
no one can find any
meaning in it.
Boring to the eye,
boring to the ear.
What was will be
again,
what happened will
happen again.
There’s nothing new on
this earth.
Year after year it’s
the same old thing.
Does someone call out,
“Hey, this is new”?
Don’t get excited—it’s
the same old story.
Nobody remembers what
happened yesterday.
And the things that
will happen tomorrow?
Nobody’ll remember
them either.
Don’t count on being
remembered.
Well now…that was uplifting! And believe me when I say…the
negative theme only got worse as I continued through this book. To say it was depressing is an
understatement. They sure weren’t words
to fill me with inspiration as I headed off to worship.
They were words though to remind me that not everyone got up
that morning thrilled to be going to church.
Some, I’m sure, dreaded getting up because they knew they HAD to go to a
service where they haven’t felt the Spirit working in years. There is a good chance that others woke up
and had no intentions of going to the Lord’s house because of pain that was
inflicted on them from those who call themselves Christians. More than likely, there were others who got
out of bed and never gave church a thought because they have never darkened the
door.
I believe many feel…such as Solomon shared in Ecclesiastes… that
life is futile. There is so much evil
going on in this world that it is easy for many to feel like giving up. Life just keeps knocking them down over and
over and it’s so hard for them to see any silver lining in any cloud. Day after day plays out just like the day
before and it takes everything they have just to put one foot in front of
another.
If you are feeling like this today…please allow me to give you
some advice. First of all, if you are
attending a church that isn’t Bible based and prayer focused…I urge you to do
whatever you can to share with those you worship with that church is more than
a social club. Life is too short and
Christ’s return is on the horizon and we dare not just “play church”.
If you aren’t attending church because you have been hurt from
those in the church…I am deeply sorry.
My heart breaks for those who have walked out the door vowing they would
never return. Unfortunately, those of us
in the church are far from perfect and sometimes our actions or words are not
said in love. I implore you to give
worshipping on Sunday another chance.
There are many churches out there, although filled with imperfect people
that love you and want to walk on your journey with you.
If by chance you are reading this and you have never tried
church on a Sunday, why not give it a try?
You may have heard some negatives…and hopefully a lot of positives …to
becoming involved with others in your community to worship the One who created
you. Maybe it is time that you find out
for yourself what actually transpires on Sunday morning in a local
congregation.
Yes, life can seem at times like it is just smoke…nothing but
smoke…as Solomon said. But I’m here to
share with you today that there is more to life than that! It’s hard to put into words how much the time
I spend in worship helps me throughout the week. It gives me hope…keeps me focused…and
inspires me to reach out and make a difference in the lives of those around me.
If I can help you in your search for a place to worship, please
let me know. I would love for you to
wake up on Sunday mornings as excited as I am to walk through the doors of a
local church. Warning: you won’t find
anyplace that is filled with perfect people…but I know there are many imperfect
people who want to “do life” with you.
You don’t have to walk your journey alone.
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