Your Daily Devotional for July 22, 2007

 

July 22,  2007

 

 

The Importance of Preparation

by Dr. Paul Chappell

 

 

"And Ezra the scribe stood upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose; and beside him stood Mattithiah, and Shema, and Anaiah, and Urijah, and Hilkiah, and Maaseiah, on his right hand; and on his left hand, Pedaiah, and Mishael, and Malchiah, and Hashum, and Hashbadana, Zechariah, and Meshullam. And Ezra opened the book in the sight of all the people; (for he was above all the people;) and when he opened it, all the people stood up: And Ezra blessed the LORD, the great God. And all the people answered, Amen, Amen, with lifting up their hands: and they bowed their heads, and worshipped the LORD with their faces to the ground."

 

Nehemiah 8:4-6

 

 

John Quincy Adams once said, "The first and only book demanding universal attention is the Bible." As we saw yesterday, after the Israelites had rebuilt the wall in Jerusalem they had a time of spiritual purification. They realized that a physical wall meant nothing if they did not build a spiritual wall in their hearts.

 

Our verses today show us that the Israelites all gathered together to hear the Word of God and worship Him. They realized the importance of gathering together and listening to God's Word. Even so, we must realize the importance of coming together to God's house to hear from Him.

 

Just as important as it is to attend church each week, it is important how we prepare our hearts for church. We must come in a spirit of prayer. The Israelites sought God through prayer before they listened to the preaching of His Word. They wanted to make sure everything was right in their hearts before they heard from God.

 

Before we come to hear God's Word, we must make sure our hearts are right with Him. God desires to use the preaching of His Word to work in us, but He cannot work if we have sin in our lives. We must ask Him to remove the hindrances and we must approach the service with an open heart.

 

Not only must we spend time in prayer before the service, but we must listen intently during the service as well. The devil seeks to distract us during the services so as to hinder God's working in our lives. We must not let him shift our focus from God's Word! Before we even enter the service, we must ask God to help us focus on the preaching of His Word. We must ask Him to speak to us through His Word.

 

Friend, we cannot survive as Christians without the preaching of His Word! It is our sustenance to survive each week. It is also our way of fellowshipping with other Christians. After a long week of work, it is nice to come to church and be nourished by God's Word and through fellowship with His people. God designed this time for us to be revived spiritually. It is important that we approach this time with prayer and an open heart.

 

Are you approaching each church service expecting God to work in your life? God desires to work in our lives! We must approach each service with prepared hearts. As we are in the middle of summer, it can sometimes become easy to slip in our church attendance. Church is not just something God commands us to do; it is our way of hearing from His Word! Determine now to be faithful to God's house this summer and commit to preparing your heart before each service as you seek to hear from Him.

 

 

Daily Bible Reading

Psalm 31-32 • Acts 23:16-35

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