Ready for Church

Bible Reading: Psalm 57:7-11

"Let's get ready for church," said Dad. "We don't want to be late."

"Dad says that every week," Amos told his sister, Maggie. "We should get ready early some Sunday, just to see if it's really Dad talking or if it's a recording that plays every week." Dad grinned and nodded.

When they arrived at church, no other cars were there. "That's odd," said Mom. "I wonder what--" She stopped and pulled out her phone. "Oh no!" she exclaimed. "We're an hour early! Last spring we moved the clocks ahead an hour, and last night we were supposed to set them back again." They could hardly believe that no one had remembered to change the clocks around the house.

"While we wait, let's get ready for church," suggested Dad.

Maggie giggled. "It must be a recording after all, Amos. We woke up, ate breakfast, cleaned up, got dressed, and even came to church a whole hour early--but the recording is still going off!"

Dad laughed with the rest of the family. "We prepared our bodies," he said, "but it would be good to prepare our hearts for worship too, and today we have time."

"We can't feed our hearts breakfast," said Amos.

"Sure we can. We can feed on God's Word for a few minutes." Dad opened his Bible and read a short passage aloud.

"Okay, but we can't wash our hearts, can we?" asked Maggie when Dad finished reading.

"Sure we can," said Dad. "We can search our hearts and confess sins to Jesus, and He'll cleanse us."

"We can't dress our hearts though," said Amos.

"Sure we can!" Maggie echoed Dad's words before he could say them. Then she looked at her parents. "But how?"

"How about by praising God?" suggested Mom. "Singing praises to Him can help set our mood for worship. What should we sing?" Amos suggested a praise song, and Maggie wanted an old hymn she liked, so the family sang them both.

"Maybe we should do this every Sunday and really get ready for church," Maggie said as other cars began to arrive.

"Is that my recording I hear?" asked Dad. They all left the car smiling.

– Nance E. Keyes

How About You?
Do you prepare your heart as well as your body for worship? It's good to be clean and look nice, but it's also important to make sure your heart is ready to worship God and learn from His Word. Next time you get ready for a church service, pray that God would soften your heart and open your eyes and ears to the things He has for you.

Today's Key Verse:
Lord, You have heard the desire of the humble; You will prepare their heart. (NKJV) (Psalm 10:17)

Today's Key Thought:
Prepare your heart for worship