Saturday July 9, 2011
by Lynn Harris, Education Pastor
One thing that I have asked from the Lord, that I shall seek; That I may dwell in the house of the Lord all of the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord and to meditate in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)
This Psalm of David is a wonderful scripture to ponder. In the first three verses David expresses great faith in God and that has always been a mark of the people who walk with God. In the New American Standard version of the Bible verse three brings us to a great truth as David says, “in spite of this”, that he will do something. Many times we do things either in spite of something or because of something. Neither is always completely wrong and neither is always completely right and sometimes we need to attend church because of some things; then sometimes we need to attend in spite of some things.
As we examine the verse that we are focusing on today we also learn that church is a place to go and learn of and see the splendor of God (“behold the beauty of the Lord”). There is a beauty in the worship of God’s people; there is a beauty in seeing the changed lives of God’s people. We also see beauty in the reading and proclamation of God’s holy, inspired, inerrant, and infallible word. While God is not limited to just the church house on Sundays, He certainly is there and, there is a certain beauty there that we will miss if we are not there.
We next find in this verse that church is a place of inquiry (“to meditate in His temple”). It is interesting to understand that in the Hebrew language the word that is translated as “meditate” (or “inquire” in some translations) is a word that the Hebrews also used to describe the act of plowing. We have a great need for God to regularly till our minds and turn up the roots of the weeds that tend to grow there so the heat of the truth of His word can kill them. It is hard for much needed nutrients and life giving oxygen to penetrate hard, packed soil. Missing church is very much like a plant trying to live among weeds and in hard, dry soil.
Possible activities for the day
1. Stop and say a prayer of thanksgiving for your church, your church leaders, and your fellow church members. Ask each member of the family to pray for a church member by name.
2. Consider taking the family around today and picking out the clothes you will wear to church tomorrow. While you are at it go ahead and set the alarm clock to be able to get up on time and attend.
3. Make a commitment now to find someone at church tomorrow who has been a source of beauty in your life and then thank them for it. Do it while you are at church with them.
4. Make a commitment now with all of the family to discuss at lunch tomorrow what the Sunday School lesson was about.
