Every week believers begin by being in the Lord’s House, or at least we should be. We get up Sunday morning, have our breakfast, get our clothes ready then get dressed, and then head off to be with the Lord’s people in seeking to worship the Lord. But should we begin getting ready for Sunday before Sunday?
I guess the answer depends on what you are getting ready. I think we can say that there are three things we need to get ready for church this coming Sunday; our body, our mind, and our spirit.
First our body. Several years ago I heard a preacher say that half of our spiritual battles can be won by a good night’s sleep. Now I know that our spiritual battles are not always based upon our physical condition, but it is true that getting a good night’s rest helps just about every area of our lives. Being rested helps us focus and helps us respond from a positive physical condition, thus a good night’s sleep supports so many important things. Maybe this Saturday night we should consider going to bed early instead of staying up late to watch TV or some other thing. Maybe we should consider that going to bed early and getting a good night’s rest is part of preparing for Sunday? Also a good breakfast on Sunday morning that invigorates the body so that we stay awake and alert in Sunday School and morning service may also be something we should consider important too. Getting the body ready to be in the Lord’s House is not something that just happens, but it comes from planning and preparation BEFORE Sunday.
Second our mind. The Bible makes it clear that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he…”(Proverbs 23:7). I am convinced that so often we prepare ourselves to worship God in basically every other area before we ever consider prepping our minds for worship. But our mind is the beginning of who we are as Proverbs 23 tells us. If we are going to prepare our minds to worship effectively we must begin by thinking about those things which are positive and please the Lord such as the list in Philippians 4:8. I am convinced that too often we mentally carry ALL the burdens of our week into the church service instead of trying to get our mind to leave them behind somewhat by moving them to the back of our thinking for the service so that we can focus on that which is positive and helpful from the Lord’s Word. I know that our burdens need to be lifted and many times they are lifted in the church service, but if we continually carry them in our minds in every thought during services then our minds are already full and the truths of God’s Word have nowhere to spring forth with life. Remember that Jesus warned that the cares of the world can choke the truths of His Word (Mark 4:19) and that can happen if we do not prepare our minds to worship on Sunday.
Third our spirit. This is one area that I think most believe they are preparing in advance. I say this because most of us are looking forward to being in the Lord’s House of the Lord’s Day to hear from the Lord’s Word, and so we are preparing our spirits for that event. We have made being in church our normal routine and in that we are preparing spiritually for church. I know in my own life, that I have been attending church every Sunday since before I could even remember it. I say this because I was in service early as my parents took me to church just days after I was born and I have been there every since. Going to the Lord’s House each Sunday has become such a routine to me that on those very few occasions where due to sickness I was unable to attend I felt completely out of sync the entire week as I felt I had missed something I always do. This is because my spirit was prepared to be in the Lord’s House on the Lord’s Day. But let me hasten to add that if our bodies and minds are not fully ready to worship, then, the spirit’s readiness is going to be somewhat stifled in its response to the Lord’s Word as well. If you fall asleep in church how can the Spirt of God move in your heart? If your mind is still thinking about the problems at work the how can God’s Word motivate your spirit toward Him?
So my question is - are we truly getting ready for Sunday? Just something to think about as the Lord’s Day approaches.
No comments:
Post a Comment