Living with God is not a routine. It is a walk.
How long I made my trek to church as a little kid. There I was always hoping that this time it would be interesting. I especially liked it when my Grandpa and my uncle sang in the choir. But mostly I counted down to that final dismissal song that set us free.
Shaking the pastor's hand was meaningful mostly because I could see daylight again. I had just lived through another time of mostly boredom; but felt so much the better for having endured.
Whew! Did it again! Now, on my walk back, pop into Hendricks Drugstore, snag a Snickers, off to home, off with those Sunday-only duds and out to gather up enough kids for a baseball game. Sunday!
There you go, for those similar to me, church seems to have always been about entertainment. But when it comes to us personally, we never call it that. That label belongs only for those of modern day who want new things in church. Right?
But I was a kid. Church meant sit-still big time. I just wasn't a sit-still sort. Oh the drudgery of church.
So, do you think those who attend are feeling as I did? They are putting in their time? Or, are they as I am now, finding the pleasure of really, attentively worshiping God? The latter is a major shift.
If in a church to be pleased, then ultimately criticism will be on the tips of our tongues. The sermon was too long, the music to loud, the attire by some too....something. But when our goal is to give praise to God, the church scene seems to experience complete remodel.
We think about Him in gratitude. We sing to Him. Pray to Him. We believe He hears us as well as dwells among us.
What a lot of churches these days could use is a good dose of God. I speak from personal need. Church isn't God. Church music isn't either. Neither are attendance numbers nor contribution counts.
God is.
Church. When we can all pool our praise for Him, God seems to release blessings within our hearts that can neither be explained nor manipulated. May we have more of that!
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