I was glad when they said to me,
“Let’s go to the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 122:1
Are you glad when you get to go to the house of the Lord? Or is it something you have to do but aren’t really excited about? Going to church shouldn’t be something a believer does begrudgingly. Church is the place where you get to worship God like you will worship him in heaven, with a chorus of voices. Church is a place where you get to learn what pleases him, talk about how great he is, hear about the amazing things he’s done, and read what he has to say. Church is the place where you get to be with others who think the same way as you do about him and where you can be free to praise him and give him thanks. So why is it so hard to get up in the morning and get out the door? Why do you feel so bummed about taking a day to do church?
The most common answer is “I’m just not getting anything out of it.” But that answer sounds like church is all about what you get out of it and not what he gets. Change your way of thinking about church and maybe you’ll change the way you feel about it. Instead of thinking of church as being for your benefit, think of it as being for God’s benefit. Go there to give him your heart, your voice, your presence. Go there to serve him by loving other members of the faith. Go there to be taught how to obey God and how to minister to the lost. Go there to be trained to serve. Go to church for the one whose church it is, and church will no longer be a pain but a blast. When you make it all about him, it can’t help but be all good.