Steve Says
In the teen class on Sunday mornings, we are going through the book of Ecclesiastes. Last week we started in chapter 5 which reads:
“Guard your steps when you go to the house of God.
To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools”
Ecclesiastes 5:1
This prompted a discussion about our worship and how we prepare for worship on a Sunday Morning. I asked the question, “What do you do to prepare for worship?” which was met with a lot of blank stares and questioning looks. The truth is, we don’t do much in “preparation” for worship. Those leading prayers, or songs, or the Lord’s Supper, take time to prepare but I’m talking about the average worshipper sitting in the pew. Too often, I find myself in the car on the drive to church listening and singing along to music that does not put me in the mindset for worship. In fact, some of that music does the opposite and gets me thinking about worldly things rather than Godly things.
Doesn’t that seem strange? After all, when we gather, as the Church, to worship. We are entering into the presence of the Most High, the Creator of all things, the I AM! Shouldn’t we GUARD OUR STEPS and prepare ourselves for what is about to happen? Or have we become so calloused about being in the presence of God that we think nothing of it? I’m not advocating that we turn our worship service into something so rote and formal that we lose all sense of familiarity with our Father. But I advocate that we should spend some time preparing hearts and our minds for the devotion that God deserves in our worship. I love that we have started doing a call to worship at the beginning of our worship service. But too often I find myself worrying about too many things before worship starts. I don’t know about you, but I need to do a better job being prepared to worship God.
