“Your activity is only as good as your preparation.” I’d like to acknowledge a constant sin. I don’t know if I’ve ever come to church truly prepared to spend time with or hear from God.
On most Sunday mornings I look at it as another chance to sleep in. And now especially with kids every Sunday morning I find myself running around trying to get us all ready and make sure we are going to make it to Church on time. And yes, I have a wonderful husband who also helps to get everyone ready.
We then get to Church, some days, just in time to hurridly deposit our kids in the nursery and Sunday school and quickly take our seats, trying to calm ourselves enough to actually listen to what the person standing in front of us is trying to say. The singing begins and the mind is still wandering and it can take a few songs before you are fully present.
But if it’s true that your activity is only as good as my preparation than it would not surprise me if God were to call my activity of worship arrogant or even unholy bc my preparation is basically null and void. And my guess is I’m not the only one.
I understand that life happens – I have 3 kids! Unexpected things come up and there are times when simply making it to Church on time is a victory. But – how many times could I push myself to get out of bed a little earlier, to make the morning a bit less rushed, to take even a few mins w/o children, w/o my spouse, w/o my friends to invite God to prepare my heart to hear from Him.
I recently heard of one man who sat in his seat an hour before the service began to read his Bible, confess his sins, pray, be silent… simply prepare to meet with and hear from God. What about us? What could God do with a congregation on a Sunday morning if everyone committed to simply 5 mins of preparation every single Sunday? What about 10? What could God do…
I needed to read this post tonight! Thanks for the wise words, my friend. I probably don't comment enough but please know that I always look forward to your posts. As always, a perfect pairing of wisdom and grace.