As we move through these last days of Lent I am struck with how the Word of God has been working in me these last few weeks, causing me to think of things in a different light. The first thing is how individualized and personalized God’s correction is. What looms large is the “beam” in my own eye, not the “speck” in someone else’s.
Is God making large the things in your life you need to correct? If there is nothing “big”, we may have to ask, am I really seeking the Lord for His correction and guidance? I put big in quotation marks because the work God wants to do in me may seem small and insignificant in someone else’s eyes, but little becomes much when God is in us to conform us into Christ’s likeness.
The second thing that has struck me this Lenten season is how intentional God’s commands are to be followed by us. Several studies show that people consider faithful attendance in church worship to be showing up a little less than half the time. Yes, our intentions may match our vows to “uphold the church with our prayers, presence, gifts, and service” but our intentional acts of obedience may not.
So, I ask you to help me conduct an experiment of Lenten commitments. Get your calendar out (whether it is on your phone or hanging on your refrigerator). Schedule the weeks when you and your family will be active in public worship with all the other members of Laurel Hill. I would ask that you commit to being here at least 80% of the time. This will allow you to schedule 10 – 12 weeks when you may be somewhere else. Being intentional in this, I believe, will put you into a place of being blessed by the Lord
For those of you who see being in worship as a weekly given for your scheduled appointments, I give thanks to the Lord for you and I will look forward to seeing you each Sunday. Look for these weekly opportunities for worship and mission in our newsletter and our March Calendar.