Why do you go to church? Why do you read your Bible? Why do you do any of the many religious things Christians do? Really think about what motivates you, what you get excited about, what you want from doing these things?
Today I was sitting in church and found my mind wandering to things of the day, people at church and other things. The thought crossed my mind whether I was truly going to church for the right reason with the right motivation in my heart. Do I get more excited about getting out and seeing friends at church, than I do about meeting with the Lord and worshipping him? Do I hope to "look good" at church with my family? Is there some selfish motive in my heart with my church attendance - something I hope to get for my own selfish satisfaction.
Now I know that it's good to fellowship at church and build one another up in the Lord, and that IS an important part of church, but do I also get excited about my time with God and give priority to my worship of him during church? I find that too often my mind wanders away from worshipping God and dwells on the daily things, the selfish things and the trivial things.
How about when you read your Bible, or memorize the Bible etc... Do you do this for the self-satisfaction of having done it? Are you legalistic about the way you do it and feel pride and satisfaction in the fact that you read the Bible? I can tend to be this way at times. Of course reading the Bible daily is necessary. I just need to make sure that my motives and heart stays pure about it - that there doesn't become a pride in my Bible study or Bible memory, or a condemnation if I feel like I'm not measuring up in this area.
I pray that I can truly come to God in freedom. Freedom to know that he still loves me if I miss my Bible reading. Freedom to not be legalistic and prideful about things that I do for the Lord. I pray that my heart would desire God - to worship him in his holiness and rest in his grace! To truly sing the songs of praise to my God and how awesome he is. I feel so week in this area - I think Satan truly wants us to be very caught up in the acts of things and lose our focus on God himself and coming to him.
May we seek God and God alone each day - not our own desires, not the things that make us feel good about ourselves but GOD! God bless!
