Wednesday, December 7, 2016
Though many people have nightmares, some so often that they fear going to bed at night, its been so long since I had one that I can’t even recall now how many years it has been. Though I don’t often have them to begin with, I do have some troubling dreams from time to time, however. In fact, I had one last night. In it, my wife and I missed going to church on a Sunday morning. What, that troubled me? You don’t know how much! And like many people after they wake up from a bad dream, I was very happy that it didn’t really happen. In the dream, I was troubled that for whatever reason, we were running late. (In real life, just the thought about being late to church troubles me.) Then, I couldn’t find my shoes, which after a long search I found out in the front yard. Then, I couldn’t remember where my ties were. That would never happen in real life. I was already upset that we we’re going to be late. Yet, when we were about to leave the house, we saw that it was raining so hard that our street no longer looked like a street but a raging river. We weren’t able to get out of the driveway. The unthinkable had happened, we were going to miss church.
I don’t blame you if some of you suspect that I’ve lost my marbles or think that I am making a big to-do about something that’s not really that important, but church to me is that important. It characterizes my life. I remember my daughter telling me one day that her little girl, our first grandchild, who could barely say a few words at the time, upon realizing she was at the church parking lot, said “Grandpa!” Even at that early age, to her, church and her grandpa went together. When I fell in love with Jesus, I fell in love with just about everything that is associated with Him. I remember taking my wife and family many evenings to church when there was nothing going on. I just wanted to be there.
Okay, why is church that big a deal to me? If I gave you every reason, I would take so much time, you’d soon get bored or I’d keep you from your daily chores. Therefore, I’ll just share a few. I love church because it represents Jesus. It’s the place where the people I love the most in this life will be. I will have time to sit down and talk with many of them. In it, I will feel God’s presence. I will be able to pray at the altar, either for me or for someone else. I will hear an encouraging, instructional or comforting word. I will be energized and prepared for the rest of the week. (In many cases, the energy runs out by Tuesday. Therefore many go back to church on Wednesday.) In church, I’ll have one more opportunity to serve God, to perhaps be a blessing to someone. I don’t expect you or anyone else to love church as much as I do, but if you should some day, I know it will make your life so much better.
God’s word for today: (Psalm 84:10) “Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.”
