Articles
Are You Prepared to Worship God?
Sunday mornings are a rushed time for our family. In addition to ensuring we ourselves look presentable, we have three little ones to dress, feed, change, and corral into the van. And, once we arrive at the building, the preparations continue: taking kids to the bathroom and then class, feeding the baby, and handling the occasional tear or frown. Whether you presently have small children or not, I imagine you can relate.
All this bustle to prepare our physical bodies can easily distract us from the spiritual preparations we ought to be making in our hearts. Admittedly, I am the world’s worst at becoming impatient during delays which keep us from leaving on time, and sometimes feel more disgruntled than reverent when entering worship. Our children will eventually see through this hypocrisy; more importantly, God sees through it now. The question is, are we ready to worship our Creator in such a mindset?
The problem of unpreparedness begins earlier than Sunday morning, though. It extends even into the ups and downs of the previous week. Have we lived for God or for ourselves? Psalm 15 offers wise counsel for anyone who wishes to enjoy fellowship with God, both in worship from earth and in eternity: “Oh LORD, who may abide in Your tent? Who may dwell on Your holy hill?” (v. 1)
David answers this question in the following verses: only the one who walks with integrity and honesty (v. 2), does not gossip about or speak harshly to his neighbor (v. 3), who hates evil and loves good (v. 4a), fulfills his commitments even if it hurts him (v. 4b), and deals justly with his fellow man (v. 5). Here’s a suggestion: sometime before coming to the assembly, let’s read through this Psalm and ask ourselves if we are people that are prepared to enter God’s tent.
This is not to suggest that only perfect people can worship; fact is, no one is worthy to stand in God’s presence. No, this is about the hypocrisy of drawing near to God with our lips when our hearts are far from Him (Matt. 15:7-8). God has strong words for anyone approaching God with unholy lives and hypocritical hearts (Is. 1:10-17). Jesus also teaches us to be reconciled to our brethren before offering sacrifice (Matt. 5:23-24). Sincerity and peace is just that important to God.
So, will God accept or reject your worship today, based on how you are living? While it is certainly advisable to bathe ourselves and our children in preparation for worship, let us also consider this: “Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from My sight” (Is. 1:16).
