WHAT THIS MEANS:
Our worship and our relationship with God have everything to do with each other.
Sometimes when we worship, we're just going through the motions.
Let's say I go on a dinner date with my wife, sit there staring at my food or my cell phone the whole time, comment on her dress because I know that's what I should do, say "uh-huh" alot, crank up my favorite station on the way home, and give her an expected peck on the cheek when the night is through, because I think I should.
How will she react?
That date demonstrates absolutely no real expression of our love and relationship with each other!
Think of Sunday as a date with God. Are you just going through the motions?
The Bible says
These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men.
Isaiah 29:13
Isaiah 29:13
You must worship no other gods, but only the LORD, for he is a God who is passionate about his relationship with you.
(Exodus 34:14)
God's purpose was that we who were the first to trust in Christ should praise our glorious God. And now you also have heard the truth, the Good News that God saves you. And when you believed in Christ, he identified you as his own by giving you the Holy Spirit, whom he promised long ago. The Spirit is God's guarantee that he will give us everything he promised and that he has purchased us to be his own people. This is just one more reason for us to praise our glorious God.
Eph. 1:12-14
ACTION:If you're on schedule, you should be reading this on Sunday. If you're not, do this next Sunday.
1. Go to church. Think of it as a date with God.
2. Worship the God who loves you. Worship the God who lives in you. Don't worry about the people next to you.
3. Don't go through the motions.
4. Read Engage #3
PRAY: Tell God that you don't want to go throught the motions today. Tell him how you feel, how you really feel. Open up to him; this is a relationship after all.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
(these are intended to help get discussion started - please do not feel confined to these questions: comment as you like!)
Is it weird to think of Sunday as a date with God? Is this a good comparison? Why or why not?
date with God is a good comparison but it is definately weird to think of. i like church and i like sundays and i like God, but i think things that i learn/do during sundays don't exactly gear me up for my "date with God" like they should. whenever i go to someone else's church, i feel like there is an air of excitement there and it is definately infectious. not that our church is bad, but i don't feel that same kind of excitement. from some people, yes, but from church in general no. when i walk into church everyone seems comfortable, everyone seems satisfied. why can't we be uncomfortable? we need to come to church unsatisfied, ready to learn and crave more from life, from God. that is my point of view. sometimes it's hard to have a date with God when you've had the same date 3 weeks in a row. I WANT TO MIX MY DATE UP! :)
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