NOVEMBER 22, Psalm 96:9

On the way home from church, Beng and Yifen told their parents about the missionary who had spoken in their Sunday School department. “I thought idols were things people worshiped long ago, but Mr. Ong said a lot of them still exist,” said Beng. “The people he works with have all kinds of strange practices and ways of worshipping their idols. Idols are man-made gods.”

“We are thankful that we worship the true God when we go to church.” “Maybe we do, and maybe we don’t,” replied Dad. “We don’t?” asked Yifen in surprise. “Then why do we go to church?”

“We should worship God there,” said Dad, “but, well… take this morning, for instance. While Pastor was preaching, I noticed some girls writing notes to each other.” Yifen blushed. She was one of the girls who had been writing notes. She slowly shook her head. “As for me,” added Dad, “I have to confess that at one point, I was thinking about a problem at work instead of thinking about God. That wasn’t worship, either.”

“I’m sometimes guilty, too,” admitted Beng. “In Sunday School last week, I whispered to Laurie during prayer time. After class, Brother Milton talked to me about it. I was really embarrassed.”

Mom said. “I’m glad you realise that was wrong. And now I guess it’s my turn to confess,” she said. “There are numerous verses in the Psalms that say we are to ‘sing unto the Lord’ - or to sing ‘praise to God’. To do that, we need to think about the words we’re using. Otherwise we’re not singing to Him at all. Well, while singing familiar songs, I sometimes catch myself thinking about something else.”

“We all could improve our worship, couldn’t we?” asked Dad. “Let’s make up our minds that each time we go to church, we’ll really worship God. If we don’t, I can’t see that we’re much better than people who think ceremonies and rituals are worship. In fact, we’re worse, because we know better.”

Thought: What’s going on in your mind when you attend Junior Worship (JW) class?

Prayer: Heavenly Father, help me to understand and think about the message of the songs I sing, or JW lessons I attend. I pray I won’t allow my thoughts to wander! In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.