The Sacrifice of Fools
We must always be careful about why we go to church and what we do while we are at church. Solomon gave us instruction and a warning about this. (Ecclesiastes 5:1) It spoke to my heart, and I hope it will speak to yours, too.
When we go to the house of God, which today is the church, we must "walk prudently." This simply means to be prudent when we go, or to think about the right motives and the right way to worship God as we go to church. It is easy to go to church for all of the wrong reasons. We can just go for family or friends. We can go to have fun, or we can go to fulfill an obligation, thinking God will be impressed with our presence. None of those things are the right motives for going to church. We go to truly worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can enter into a worship time, because that is what everyone else is doing. We can sing, because the leader asks us to join is. We can pray because it is expected of us to pray. However, God sees our hearts. He knows when we are sincere in our worship through singing and prayer. He receives our sacrifices of praise only when it comes from our hearts and out of a loving faith in Him.
Solomon says if we give the sacrifice of fools, we may not know it, but it is evil. What is the sacrifice of fools? A fool is one who has said in his or her heart that there is no God. Therefore, a sacrifice of fools is when we go to church and enter into worship without drawing near to hear God, but for any other reason. When we sing, we are to enter His presence, drawing near to God to praise Him from our hearts. When we pray, we are sincerely thanking Him and asking Him to bless others and ourselves, as well as seeking God's will in other things. However, even in prayer we are to listen to hear what God says to us. Finally, when we hear a message, we are to hear what the Word of God says, and what the Lord is saying to us from His Word. Anything else is a sacrifice of fools, because it does not come from our hearts and our ears are not open to hear from God, as we draw near to Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 7-9.
When we go to the house of God, which today is the church, we must "walk prudently." This simply means to be prudent when we go, or to think about the right motives and the right way to worship God as we go to church. It is easy to go to church for all of the wrong reasons. We can just go for family or friends. We can go to have fun, or we can go to fulfill an obligation, thinking God will be impressed with our presence. None of those things are the right motives for going to church. We go to truly worship the Lord Jesus Christ.
We can enter into a worship time, because that is what everyone else is doing. We can sing, because the leader asks us to join is. We can pray because it is expected of us to pray. However, God sees our hearts. He knows when we are sincere in our worship through singing and prayer. He receives our sacrifices of praise only when it comes from our hearts and out of a loving faith in Him.
Solomon says if we give the sacrifice of fools, we may not know it, but it is evil. What is the sacrifice of fools? A fool is one who has said in his or her heart that there is no God. Therefore, a sacrifice of fools is when we go to church and enter into worship without drawing near to hear God, but for any other reason. When we sing, we are to enter His presence, drawing near to God to praise Him from our hearts. When we pray, we are sincerely thanking Him and asking Him to bless others and ourselves, as well as seeking God's will in other things. However, even in prayer we are to listen to hear what God says to us. Finally, when we hear a message, we are to hear what the Word of God says, and what the Lord is saying to us from His Word. Anything else is a sacrifice of fools, because it does not come from our hearts and our ears are not open to hear from God, as we draw near to Him.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ecclesiastes 7-9.