I came close to not going to church yesterday. I have been dealing with a reaction to a medication I took. I didn’t feel guilty or bad for not going. I can spend time with God anywhere. (Although we are advised to “not forsak[e] the assembling of ourselves together” (Hebrews 10:25).) I felt I would be missing out. There is a joy in the freedom to gather together and worship God. And it often gives me a spiritual boost, especially when I feel I’ve been lingering in the doldrums lately. Going to church also helps me correct my priority list.
Priorities, especially in regards to our relationship with Jesus, are very important. As with any relationship, the more time we spend with Jesus the stronger our relationship is but in order to do that we must make Him our top priority. So that afternoon, I picked up my Bible to do some study and it opened to a page that had a torn off piece of paper marking it. I don’t remember putting it there and as far as I know I’ve never seen this paper before although I admit my memory isn’t the best. The paper was actually torn out in such a way that I could read something that had been circled. It says, “Do you remember this old song: ‘There is joy in serving Jesus as I journey on my way, / Joy that fills the heart with praises, every hour and every day’? That chorus is seldom sung now….” It reminded me how I felt Sabbath morning when I realized the joy I would be missing if I stayed home. It was not just an obligation, but a privilege and a joy to come to church.
Lately I’ve wondered what other people think of my character and personality. Do I express the joy that Christians should have? Are people happy to be around me? Or do I bring them down with my lean towards the negative side? It really opened my eyes the other day when I came back to work from taking a day off and my co-workers had rearranged the copy room. There is a door between my office and the copy room so I usually pass through it on my way into my office in the morning. The sexton (old term for church janitor + handyman) had seen me come in and from my office I heard the administer say to him “Oh Deidre’s here, she’s not going to be happy about the copy room.” And in truth… she was right, I wasn’t happy! But WHY wasn’t I happy? As long as it’s functional (and honestly after the rearrangement it functioned even better than before), why did it matter to me how it looked. It’s not my copy room, it’s not even my church! And if it was my church, still why should I care if other people think it looks better arranged differently? It really did cut me to the heart knowing that she was expecting me to have a negative reaction. But obviously that is the person I am, the character trait that I portray. Where is that Christian joy? How important are most of the things I get upset about in the grand scheme of the Great Controversy??
So I quickly tried my best to react in a way that would present the character of Christ instead of my own and I only succeeded about half way. Of course to truly change, we must surrender who we are to Christ. Then we will ever grow to be more like Him through the indwelling of His Spirit. I’ve been reading a little book by Joe Crews called “The Surrender of Self.” In Chapter 6 he says, “Christians should be the happiest people in the world. If they are not, it is because self has not been surrendered and crucified.” Where is our joy as Christians? When I come into a room, I want people to say, “She is always happy, even in trying circumstances.” I remember Ryan telling me about his grandfather, that he was always smiling and when people would ask him why he was smiling or why he was happy he would say, “Because Jesus has saved me.”
“…Though now you do not see Him, yet believing, you rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory, receiving the end of your faith—the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8-9).