LET US GO INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD (PSALM 122:1)
Do you think King David was very successful in life? I absolutely think so because there are only a few men whom God is known to have physically testified of them and David the Shepherd boy, Psalmist, mighty warrior, King (or whatever title you could qualify him with) was one of such men. How did it happen? Simple: he was always found in the presence of God even when there was no church building yet! He loved to be in God’s presence so much so that he desired to build God a house where everyone could come in to have an experience of God.
The truth of the matter is that we are sometimes consumed so much by the affairs of this world that we lose sight of God and his presence in our lives.
Some people out of frustration just give up and begin to question the existence of God. God, where are you? Are you alive, God? Why have you hidden your face from me God? This is exactly why we have the CHURCH! Oh Yes, the CHURCH. It’s a sanctuary, a safe haven, a cloven of believers that provides shelter and padding throughout our walk in this world.
We do not go to the drug store when we want to get food, neither do we go to the salon when we need to stock up on food stuff. Why then do we go to every other place but the church when we need solutions to life’s problems?
Why do we seek God in places where he is least likely to be? In friends, our wealth, our jobs, other people’s experience, the news, our spouses?
Yes, God is in us. Yes we have his life at work in us. But why do we feel drained of this very life when we are cut off from the church? Answer? Simple: God instituted the church after the body of his son our Lord Jesus Christ so that we receive nourishment for every one of our functions in life when we are attached to the body. The church is the body of Christ. Apart from the body, a member will die. The very same reason why when you cut off a part of your body for a certain period of time, it dies and cannot function again.
Every church meeting is ordained by God to meet a need in our life. Every church meeting is different. Every church meeting comes with a unique grace. No meeting in church is ordinary. Never miss church. One meeting in church is able to catapult you into a new level in Christ and when it is missed, we never can tell when such a room will be opened to us again. The church is a place for feeding. The church is a place for fellowshipping both with God and with brethren of the faith. The church is the most central part of the believer’s life, every other place (work, school etc.) comes second to it. The moment we understand it like this, we will see how everything else falls in place.
The church is the only school where all class levels are gathered in one room but yet, the same word ministered answers each and every man exactly in his level. Isn’t that amazing!
Our personal and intimate fellowship with God is fuelled by our presence in church. There is a corporate anointing when we meet to fellowship in church which fuels our individual desires for God. The word of God, the worship and praise, Sister X’s testimony, the smile of the usher, the meal we ate together after church, the go-around-and-welcome-each-other moment where you were hugged by a brother with unconditional love, I could go on and on but all these are spiritual acts of worship. They are no mean things. You don’t get that in the office, you don’t get that in school and you absolutely don’t get that in the theatre. They are the things that keep us. I go around each day knowing that I am loved and that I have a family linked not but blood, nor by marriage but by the very life of God and thinking about that alone keeps me from a lot of harm in the day. I am a member of the body of Christ. I belong to the CHURCH and so do you. Let’s stay in Church! Shalom!
Feel free to share your experiences in church in the comments below.
