WISDOM WEDNESDAY 

Vol. 1 Issue 6 - 3-30-22

"But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ." 

- II Peter 3:18

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Greetings Church,

This last week has caused me to be busy with family and fellowship. Time has run a muck, even though I asked a brother to pray for my proper time management. This busyness has prompted a reflection upon how well do we prepare for worship each week. It has also brought thoughts as to whether it should be weekly or daily.

Scripture encourages us to realize that worship is not just a once a week act but one in which we are called to daily. We often consider this personal or private worship. From this perspective we also find the need for family worship. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7 we are taught, "And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise." This focus of attention covers the fullness of our lives as we strive to bring to application the truth of God's Word each and every day and in every situation we face.

Paul in Romans 12:1 states, "I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship." Here Paul brings into perspective that our daily living is an act of worship. This text along with I Corinthians 10:31, "So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God", help us to realize that preparing for worship is not only to be daily but that worship is to be daily. We as individual followers of Christ are to offer ourselves as living sacrifices daily. This daily act is the foundation upon which we prepare for corporate worship as we gather as the body of Christ on Sunday. It is out of this nourishment that we come prepared to worship.

As we build upon and prepare our hearts for corporate worship through personal or private worship we must heed the Word's instruction for that worship. In Psalm 100:4 it says, "Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!" The psalmist gives us guidance as to how we are to prepare for our entrance into the Lord's presence. We are to do so with thanksgiving and praise but it must be accompanied by a full recognition of His name. Blessing His name carries the acknowledgment of the fullness of God's character and attributes. In Ecclesiastes 5:1, Solomon writes, "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is far better than to offer the sacrifice of fools for they do not know that they are doing evil." How we come into our worship setting is vitally important. The current church culture wants to make the setting so casual that we make it about us and our comfort and not about God and His glory. We must walk a balanced approach to the Lord recognizing our need for reverence and our need to be welcoming. This balance can only be maintained if we are spending the necessary time preparing for worship. We cannot put on the attitude of worship when we walk through the doors as if putting on the right clothing for church. The whole focus of worship is about Him and His expectations not our comfort or habit.

In Hebrews 10:23-25 we read, "Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near." Worship in these last days is critically important to our growth as individuals and as the body of Christ. Without it we will slowly grow weary and weak in our faith. Gathering as the body of Christ as each part does its work to prepare will build us up. "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit." - Ephesians 3:19-22. May the Lord Himself continue to bring us into His presence as we respond in faithful preparation for worship personally and corporately.

Blessings,
PBS