One Sunday, the pastor of a church in Florida gathered the children in front of the altar for the children's message. He began by asking the question, "What does the word 'holy' mean?"
After a pause of a moment of two, a little girl raised her hand. She answered, "Being holy means that you do what your mother asked you to do the first time!"
Children's messages were always fun for me.. You never know what priceless answers you just might get to one of your questions!
But the main reason I love being in the Lord's house on Sunday is because this is the place where we encounter our gracious and merciful God.
David writes in Psalm 27: One thing I ask of the Lord, this is what is seek; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord and to seek Him in His temple.
In Psalm 84, a chorus sings: Better is one day in Your courts than a thousand elsewhere.
As the pilgrims made their way to the Temple during times of religious celebration, they would sing: I rejoice with those who said to me: 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'.
Not only is the Lord present in His house, He showers His people with rich gifts of grace - His Word of forgiveness, His very body and blood in, with and under the bread and wine of the Sacrament and the rich renewal of the Holy Spirit who comes to each of us in the Gospel.
I pray that the time you spend this week reading and meditating over God's Word lead you to exclaim on Sunday, "I love the house where You live, O Lord, the place where Your glory dwells!"
