Saturday April 27, 2013

Read Matthew 6:19-34

Tomorrow is church. I wonder what heart you will take with you to church tomorrow.  If I were to ask you whether or not your heart is at church, you might reply that you care nothing for the building. Great answer! By church I mean the people of God and the presence of God. Tomorrow, when you gather with God’s people in God’s presence, is that where your heart will be? Do you love God and His people so much that you yearn to be with them? Do you love God and His household so deeply that other family, other chores, other work will just have to wait? Is your heart so firmly set at church that you can think of nothing better than to be with God and His people?

 

Our hearts are with our treasure. If our treasure is the bank, our hearts will be there. If our treasure is in the children’s sporting match or the economy or the relatives visit then our heart will be there. Church will become something we have to endure before we can get to the really good stuff.

 

I’ve always struggled with Jesus’ words in verse 22-23 but what He is saying is that we can look at life from two very different angles. If we look at life in terms of our treasure and seek to fulfil ourselves in terms of that treasures then our body will be filled with eternal darkness. But if we love God and see the world through Him, then our body will be filled with light.

 

From another angle Jesus teaches the same thing. He tells us that we can have only 1 master for we must ultimately choose who we will serve. And whatever or whomever we serve is our master.

 

Think about that practically. If Jack puts sport above Church each week then sport is his master. No matter how hard he tries to argue otherwise, sport is his master. If Jill refuses to give to the work of the Lord then money is her master. If Mary Ann refuses to fellowship midweek with other believers because of work then work is her master. Jesus is clear when He says that we will worship one and despise the other. We simply cannot have two masters.

 

God’s heart is that we seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. He promises that all those things that we think we need will be given to us in their proper turn. God wants us to serve Him wholeheartedly, even above and beyond the daily needs that we have. He wants us to put Himself above food, clothing, friends, family and even the grand Dollar Bill.

 

Tomorrow’s church service is not an isolated event in your weekly calendar. It’s the culmination of who you are and what you’ve done all this week. It is the culmination of every word, every thought and every action that you’ve engaged in this week.  If you have lived this week for yourself and sought your own happiness, your own indulgence and your own pleasure, church will be something to endure and put up with.  But if you’ve sought to bring glory to God and to worship God with your entire being, with every word, every thought and every action, church will become a finale, a climax where you and your Christian family stand in the presence of the Almighty God. If you have sought to worship God all week, tomorrow will be a home coming, a reunion and a foretaste of the most exquisite  time in your life - that time when you and I will stand in God’s presence for all eternity.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

 

Adoration:

 

Confession:

 

Thanks:

 

Supplication:

¥ Ask your Lord and Saviour to prepare you for Church tomorrow and to prepare you to meet with Himself. Pray this for your congregation and ask the Lord to make it a wonderful time of focussing on God and edifying each other.

¥ Pray that God would use your church powerfully to grow the kingdom of God.

 

Discussion Questions For Families and Groups

1. How can you tell what or who your master really is?

2. What things show that Jesus is really a person’s master?