The House of the Lord

I was glad when they said to me,

“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”
Psalm 122:1 NLT

Whenever I hear Psalm 122:1, I immediately think of Pastor Frank. Now here is a man who truly loves the Lord in such a joyful way that his joy is completely contagious. When he prays in front of the congregation, this verse precedes his prayer. As I read it again, I thought of Pastor Frank and how joyful he is all the time. He is definitely glad to be in the house of the Lord. He always has a smile on his face and the words he speaks are words of encouragement and truth. I also paused for a minute, after I read this verse to ask myself if I was always glad to go to the house of the Lord and if I was always exuding joy with a smile and a word of encouragement. Sadly, I have to say that this is not always the case. I daresay, this might be true for you as well. Maintaining a sincere heart of worship in the midst of screaming children, or someone blaring their horn at you in traffic is very difficult. Sometimes we can wake up excited about going to hear the word of God and worshiping him, only to get in the car and lose it all with the start of the ignition and sometimes even before that. Why is that? Maybe it is because we have the wrong thinking about what church really is. The church really has nothing to do with a building, or the "best" worship songs, or any program. It has everything to do with a willing heart yielding itself to the Almighty, Holy God, and surrendering to his authority in life. The church is a body of believers following God with servant hearts, choosing to serve out of love for God and love for one another, because God commands it. Pastor Frank knows that truth, that is why he is the way he is and that is why he does what he does. If we find ourselves struggling to be joyful and open to hearing from the Lord, then it's definitely a heart issue. When attending church becomes a duty or an obligation, we are dangerously close to losing the meaning of going in the first place. "I was glad when they said to me,“Let us go to the house of the Lord.”" The psalmist was truly glad when he had the opportunity to go to the house of the Lord, meaning the Temple of the Most High God. This is the place where God dwelt. Since we have been given the Holy Spirit, God now dwells in those of us who believe in Him. He gave to us the Holy Spirit as a gift to help us live our lives according to his will and his word. Ask yourself, when was the last time you were sincerely joyful and glad to go to the house of the Lord? Why do you go to church? What is the purpose? What agenda do you have? Ask God to show you areas in your life that are hindering your heart from being open and yielding fully to his power and authority.