Come and Worship

Welcome to today's encouragement from Our Daily Bread. I'm Amy Boucher-Pye and I called today's devotional, Come and Worship. As they sang praise songs together in the multi-generational worship service, many experienced joy and peace, but not a frazzled mother.

As she jiggled her baby, who was on the verge of crying, she held the songbook for her five-year-old while trying to stop her toddler from running off. Then an older gentleman sitting behind her offered to walk the toddler around the church and a young woman motioned that she could hold the songbook for the eldest child. Within two minutes, the mother's experience was transformed and she could exhale, close her eyes, and worship God. God has always intended that all His people worship Him, men and women, old and young, longtime believers and newcomers. As Moses blessed the tribes of Israel before they entered the Promised Land in Deuteronomy 31, he urged them all to meet together, men, women, and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns, so that they could listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and to follow His commands. It honors God when we make it possible for His people to worship Him together, no matter our stage of life. That morning in church, the mother, the older gentleman, and the young woman each experienced God's love through giving and receiving.

Perhaps the next time you're at church, you too could either extend God's love through an offer of help, or you could be the one accepting the act of grace. The passage from scripture today is from Deuteronomy chapter 31 verses 9 through 13. So Moses wrote down this law and gave it to the Levitical priests, who carried the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel. Then Moses commanded them, At the end of every seven years, in the year for cancelling debts, during the festival of tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before the Lord your God at the place He will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. Assemble the people, men, women, and children, and the foreigners residing in your towns, so they can listen and learn to fear the Lord your God and follow carefully all the words of this law.

Their children who do not know this law must hear it and learn to fear the Lord your God as long as you live in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess. Let's pray. Loving Jesus, you long that everyone would feel welcomed when they gather together to worship you. Help us to be those who notice others and who reach out in love. We pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you so much for listening. Today's encouragement was provided by Our Daily Bread Ministries.