JUST A CHURCH-GOER?

“Now Samuel did not yet know the LORD, nor was the word of the LORD yet revealed to him.” – I Samuel 3:7

REFERENCE:

I Samuel 3:1-9

I used to have a next-door neighbor who often remarked over our not seeing each other for weeks, “Close to church but far from God.” In other words, we lived beside each other but rarely spent time with each other. It describes the sad state of many Christians today; they go to church and maybe even serve in their church, but they don’t know the church’s God.

Samuel was ministering in the temple of God for some years, yet, he did not know the Lord. He read the scrolls, but it was a closed book to him; he never received a word from God through it or from it. It is possible to be a church-goer, so faithful and burdened with church activities that you miss building and enjoying an intimate relationship with God. Lack of intimacy with God will render your churchgoing useless, and all your acts of service will only be dry religious rituals.

When David longed to be in ‘church,’ he desired to behold God’s beauty and to inquire from and of Him; it was about relationship. Jesus rebuked Martha for being concerned and distracted with so much care and services but commended Mary for sitting at His feet. You may soon backslide if you hinge all your spirituality on just churchgoing and not building intimacy with God.

Could Eli be blamed for Samuel’s situation? What were his sermons about? Was he preaching a pure gospel? Was he making disciples? Why should someone in his church for at least two years (I Samuel 2:18-19) not know the Lord? After exposure to sound doctrine and teaching, ask yourself why you still have a shallow relationship with God.

God created us for fellowship. We should be church-goers, but that should not just be all. Our churchgoing should birth the knowledge of God and, consequently, love for God in our hearts. We have the Holy Spirit to have sweet fellowship with; hence, we should cultivate the relationship by seeking Him and talking with Him. Next time you go to church, shut out the world, put off your phones, forget about your troubles, and desire to see, hear, and know God.

PHOTO QUOTE

ADDITIONAL TEXTS:

Luke 10:38-42, Psalm 27:4, and I Chronicles 28:9

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PRAYERS:

+ Father, take my experience beyond being a church-goer to a true disciple and lover of God.

+ I receive the grace to seek to know God intimately and to serve Him faithfully and acceptably.

+ As opportunity presents itself for me to teach people about You, Lord, let me teach them to know You intimately.