Do me a favor
Imagine what it looks like each month when you, or someone you know, are paying "the bills". Imagine please, the way that this monthly ritual is spoken of. Think of the annoyed voices saying, "We have to pay the light bill." and "Man, this week's paycheck is basically gone already. I've got to pay my cable bill, phone bill, and car note." Unless you come from an environment far different from any I've ever been exposed to (praise God if you do), paying bills is not an activity that brings to mind images of joy or celebration. Yet, each month we figure out what must be spent and where we must spend it then we make the necessary payments.
Why? Simple, we pay our bills because we value the services that we gain by paying them. There's no wonder, then, that some of our brothers and sisters show up to church service each Sunday despite it being all too obvious that they'd rather be anyplace else. What sort of person am I talking about? If you're reading this there's a good chance you've witnessed the type of person I have in mind. He's the guy who consistently kind of sneaks into service late. He sits there quietly and stone faced the entire service. When it's time to greet his brothers and sisters, he does so with barely a smile (if he even bothers to leave his seat to do so). When service is over, he's the first out of the door (if he didn't leave when everyone began giving tithes and offerings).
I know this guy well because, for a long time, I was him.
I thank God every day that He changed me. I thank Him for getting me over treating church gatherings and service like I was just paying my God bill. I say this to assure you that, if you need and want Him to, He can do the same for you. Many people only show up at church service because (you may have guessed it) they, like the husband spending his last on a light bill, feel they need to do so in order to continue to receive God's blessings. They need to keep their "lights on". The truth is that without love for the One who has always loved us without our deserving it their "lights" are already off. If there were such a thing as a God bill they'd be paying it with checks written from an empty account. This is because the only currency that God is interested in is love. I urge you, and I do so urgently, to examine yourselves and your hearts.
Church service is not an obligation that we must meet every week with the same spirit that we pay our bills with every month. It is a privilege. It is, in fact, one of the greatest privileges in life. We ought to be excited about gathering with our loved ones to sing and dance together for God. There ought to be enthusiasm in every place that houses members of Christ's body. There ought to be an air of such joy that an unbelieving observer would have to question what could give the people she sees such feeling. She should ask "What has given you so much passion and enthusiasm?" and not "Why do you bother wasting your Sunday morning here?”
Wherever you gather, if you have been treating church service like it's your God bill and God has not yet changed your heart, I pray that He changes your life very soon. I pray that He moves into your heart and washes His love over you in such a way that you come to see the true purpose of church gatherings; that you are filled with so much love for Him that you can't help but sing out to him and embrace your brothers and sisters when you see them; that the time between gatherings would be filled with so much longing to see your brothers and sisters in Christ that on the morning of your gatherings you leap out of bed, dance to your car, and walk through the doors of your gathering place smiling from ear to ear. I know that God can do this for you because He has done exactly this for me. I pray that He does this in your life swiftly because, remember, those checks you're writing God from your account bankrupt of love are going to be returned and if something isn't done to correct that lack of love in time there will be a fee to pay.
I love you.
- C.