Today’s Reading, Ecclesiastes 5-8
Focal Scripture: Ecclesiastes 5:1 “Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong.”
When we get prepared to go somewhere important we want everything to be just right. I remember when I was a teenager and was going on my first date. I wanted to make sure I was clean, smelled good, hair looked right and I wasn’t wearing clothes that smelled like sweat or looked raggedy. I was preparing for the person and the situation. This means I had to think about what I was doing ahead of time to be prepared.
In today’s reading the author tells us that we need to guard our hearts when we go to the house of God. This means that our sin must be dealt with before we come to worship. It also means we need to resist temptations to live and act in ways that will hinder us from worshipping God with all that we have in our lives. Coming to the Lord with a heart of obedience matters more than just giving a sacrifice. After all, we know that the Lord desires obedience more than sacrifice. The writer wants to make clear that our hearts in how we approach worship matters.
So the question that comes from this is obvious. How is your heart when you approach the Lord? Do you just go through the motions and come to the house of God out of duty? Or do you come because your heart has been changed and you want to give him your all when you enter?
I want to make a clear distinction here about this topic because if I don’t you can miss the point. God wants the broken and hurting to come to him and express their need. He wants the broken hearted and sinner to feel welcome in his house. The application from these verses is that when we come to his house we need to be prepared to leave a changed person. The unbeliever needs salvation and new life when they enter the house of God.
The believer needs a heart that is focused on the creator not their opinions. The believer needs a heart that doesn’t do worship because it’s required. The believer needs to surrender their hearts and give God all that they have, every moment of their life. Especially, when they come to the house of the Lord.
So how do you approach worship? How is your heart when you approach Gods house?
Tomorrow, I plan on reading Ecclesiastes 9-12
