Be strong

I went fishing with some friends this past weekend. Unfortunately one is not at all interested in spiritual matters, and does not attend church. He arranged an excellent fishing trip for Sunday and invited me and one of the others to go with him. He hired one of the best guides in the Keys to take us to some really special places in the back country for cobia fishing.

I told him that if it was any other day but Sunday that I would love to go, but I have found that I do not fare very well when I miss church. I told him that if I do not worship God on Sunday, that it messes up my entire week the following week and I have found that to be true the hard way time after time. God gives me six other days to do my thing, but Sunday belongs to Him and I know it and I believe it. It would be a great treat to go with this celebrated guide, but I just cannot bring myself to do it.

I could actually “see” my other friend being torn back and forth as he struggled with his decision. He knew that he needed to be in church and seemed to genuinely want to go with me, and yet he wanted to go fishing too. I encouraged him to go with me to church; my other buddy encouraged him to go with him on the fishing trip.

My other friend had a flight late Sunday afternoon. I asked him to go to church with me to early service and told him that I would have him back in plenty of time to get him to the airport. He mentioned that he had some work that he really needed to do, but that he would love to go to church too. I saw him struggle and be torn back and forth with his decision as well.

I encouraged them both as hard as I know how to do. I told them how fantastic our music program is and I even left out the praise music end of things and having to stand for an hour singing. I also told them that our pastor preached fantastic messages and I even left out the revelation that his jokes are not funny. I admit it may have been borderline overkill, but I knew in my heart that they would be greatly blessed by going to church. I urged them both to go with me.

Have you ever been tempted? Of course you have. I always know what I should do, but sometimes I just cannot seem to be able to conquer the temptation and instead yield to it. I always regret it when I yield to it. I am sad to report that my wife and I went to church alone. One buddy went fishing and the other got caught up on his work. I won my battle with satan and they lost theirs.

God gives us six days to do our thing and we can and should give Him one. I was disappointed to see them lose their battles and miss out on their blessings. I can only imagine how disappointed it made God. I have no doubt that He was saddened by it. Trust me He would not have put it in the Ten Commandments if we didn’t “really” need it for our well being and to assist us in our raging battle with dark forces that we cannot win apart from obeying God’s commands and using His full resources. It is not an aside; it is of major import.

Attending church and having fellowship with other believers strengthens us for the battle for the ensuing week. Without it we cannot rise to the same heights, or sometimes even keep our heads above water. You have a choice. You can rise or you can sink. God gave us a free will. Use it wisely

Exodus 20:8
Remember the Sabbath day, to
keep it holy.
Six days you shall labor
and do all your work,
but the seventh day is the
Sabbath of the Lord your
God