He asked me, "Do you really think 45 minutes is going to wipe away all the hours of this past week?"

 Ahhh, Sunday morning, everyone rushes to put on a happy face and walk across the parking lot to greet friends and grab a welcoming hug.  Visitors look on wondering if this is really how it is...these people are actually glad to be here?  Encouraging words shared and pleasantries exchanged while friends quickly shove down the frowns that lined their faces moments prior.  We all put on a good face in front of others.  Christians, old and new, have mastered the art of presenting that all is great and church is the best place to be.  Is it really?

As we walked into Sunday school, a friend made a comment about hurrying to get to class which prompted Ted to ask me this question.  "Do you really think 45 minutes is going to wipe away all the hours of this past week?"  It made me stop because I wasn't sure what he was saying and if he was saying it to me or to someone else.  "What!?"  Again, he asked the question and added how silly we are to rush about like we are earning God's favor on Sunday morning when we have ignored God the entire week as we surfed through social media filling our minds with the influencers and junk of the day and got slammed with the filth of this world filling our hearts and minds. 

Ouch!  It stings a little when put in those terms, especially as we are on our way into the church building.  Seems a little harsh when those thoughts or pictures of what the Christian life is to look like are put into spoken words.  No one would ever say out loud, well, almost no one!  My husband has a way of saying things that stop me dead in my tracks.  I felt a little bristly at the timing of it all, but he is not wrong!

 We are nice and polite and proper to put on the mask of a good, respectable person while God calls us "whited sepulchers full of dead mens bones", but we all made it to church!  Why go through the motions?  Because people are watching the outward actions...but God sees our hearts.   Whoops, always seem to forget that part!  Why do you go to church?  To feel better?  To check the box?  

We walked into the class and settled in with our niceties and the Sunday school lesson started.  Then came the morning message, both the SS teacher and Pastor hit the same idea.  I marvel at how God works through all circumstances.  I've been meditating on the thoughts ever since.

Actually, we do feel better when we worship with God's people.  But it is so much more meaningful and helpful when we have spent time with God all week in our private times of Bible reading, meditation on what we are reading, and in prayer.  My relationship with God isn't just a Sunday checklist thing!  I need to seek His face every day.  I "Look to the Lord" for the needs I have in life.  The influencers of today come and go.  Their opinions and helpful tips change with the seasons.  My "Strength for the day comes from the Lord" when we seek His face and ask for His wisdom.  Am I seeking God all week long?  Or just on Sundays?  A 45 minute lesson and message are not enough to counteract the hours in the week that I spend doing everything else.