Articles
Stick With God
Today is Patriot's Day. Did you know you missed 9 holidays since Easter Sunday? The next major holiday is Mother's Day but there are 33 other days of observance before May 9th, albeit some of them share a day. Lots of other days too before Father's Day on June 20th, and it seems there is always something "just around the corner".
Did you know if you look at a calendar of holidays and days of observance in the United States, there are 264 recognized days of observance (some on the same date) that are designated as a holiday or day of observance in a single year. There is always a "what's next" on the calendar, and it seems we often start preparing well in advance for some of those larger ones.
When Christmas is approaching, we start preparing with a tree, buying presents, and for the family meal(s). When Valentine's day is approaching, we order those flowers and purchase chocolates for our sweethearts. Nothing wrong with that, just an example of where our minds and energy are being directed at times by our worldly activities. But what about our spiritual activities? Do we make sure we direct the proper amount of time and energy for the important things concerning Christ, like preparing for His coming? Are we really prepared for His coming?
We should be in a constant state of being ready for Jesus to come back. He's not on our calendar, so we can't wait till the last minute! What are we doing for the coming of Christ? Are we doing anything at all? Are we ready for that day to arrive?
Christians have about 52 days each year, one each week that we consider special because of what we do on those days. Do we spend any time preparing each week for the upcoming Lord's day?
The example of the early church under the oversight of the Apostles, was for the church to assemble and worship God collectively each first day of every week. Our world has certainly thrown in some competition hasn't it. 50 years ago, Sundays were somewhat left for church, businesses were closed, and going to church was the thing most people did. To some degree, even Wednesday nights were set aside for those who went to church. The NFL played on the afternoons, but few other events conflicted with the Lord's Day.
Nowadays, sporting events, even for our kids, ball games, rodeos, even practice for such sporting events seem to ignore any special time for worship on Sunday and definitely on Wednesdays. We see so many people simply add Sundays to their list of holidays, they view it as a day off, all to themselves and their personal pursuits. Nothing is set aside and devoted to God.
It takes commitment to stick with church instead of giving in to a world who cares noting about worship. It requires us to take a stand and not be moved off our priorities. It takes a love for God and service to Him. It makes it very difficult when the world schedules something in conflict with church and we are the only one in the group who has a problem with it.
It is hard, but we ought to find a way to tell the world 'no', or that they will have to wait for us because we have a prior commitment to God Almighty. Let me encourage you to take a long hard look at what has crept in while we weren't watching, and how it has become too easy to miss church for something the world has going. Without a doubt, Satan uses these things for his purposes, and the more events he can put in our way, the more often we are forced to chose between God and worldly things. Let me encourage us all today, to reaffirm our commitment to God and His worship time.
