By Rev. Michael Ives
1. Above all, God commands it. “Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.” “Forsake not the assembling of yourselves together, as the manner of some is.”
2. God lets you have six days for yourself. One for God, six for us. That’s pretty generous.
3. God deserves our gratitude. Think about it. He formed you when you were in your mother’s womb. He gave you life, breath, and all things. He makes His sun shine on you, His rain fall on you, His earth to produce for you. In short, He gives you everything. Coming into His house is giving credit where credit is due.
4. God deserves public, not just private honor. We publicly recognize accomplishments, especially those who are especially worthy. When we gather together in the house of God, we unite our voices to express His greatness. Officially. “Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised.” The purple heart isn’t awarded in a dark basement, but in a public forum. And God is greater than our greatest heroes.
5. You were meant to worship. Theologians have well said that each of us have “the seed of religion” within us. Having been made by God and for God, we cannot escape our fundamental religiousness. Not to worship is to act against our humanity. It is animalistic. Look in the mirror. You’re not an animal, meant to eat, drink, and become compost. You have a soul, a God-shaped hole that only He can fill.
6. Your children were meant to worship. They are little humans. And they need you to fear God and to lead them to Him. They won’t do it otherwise. “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.” And if they complain, remember – God put you in the driver’s seat, not them. You make them eat broccoli, even if they don’t like it. Get over their foot-dragging. If you hold the line, they will thank you for it.
7. You will improve your physical health. Our bodies can be overworked, especially in our fast-paced society. We weren’t made to do 90 in a 25 mph zone. God tells us to slow down! Further, when we give rest to our souls in the Church, the hospital of Christ, our souls are healed and reinvigorated. And a healthy mind contributes to a healthy body.
8. You will recover your sanity. When God speaks by His Word, light shines and clouds are dispelled. A calm there descends on the storm of our thoughts.
9. You will improve all your relationships. The more we are distant from God, the more alienated we become with husbands, wives, parents, children. Back to God is back to family, back to community.
10. The doors to God’s house will one day close. Now there is an open house. Now there is easy access to this place of forgiveness, renewal, and restoration. It is an oasis in a desert, available for all the thirsty to drink and be satisfied. But not forever. There is a day, unknown to men, in which God’s offers of grace and mercy shall be withdrawn, and men shall then face a God-less eternity. “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be in the days of the Son of man.” The doors then closed, and the rain fell.