Why should I come to church and why should I bring my children?

Why should I come to church and why should I bring my children?

Daniel Courington

In My life, I cannot begin to tell you how many articles I have read that ask one or both of the questions above. I have never actually heard anyone verbalize the question however. The truth is that most people understand that they and their children should be at church. Most people understand the consequences of their children not receiving the spiritual milk that is needed for them to grow (I Peter 2:22). Most everyone who fails to assemble with the saints regularly knows that doing so would be the right thing to do but they simply fail to do it.

There are many ironic things that one will notice while walking through life. You'll notice that the person on the oxygen tank who continues to smoke- continues to suffer the consequences of not doing the "upkeep" on their life. You'll notice that the house that is left untouched and unrepaired begins to fall apart. The car that never gets an oil change or new tires begins to malfunction or blows a tire. Despite knowing all these things, some people continue to smoke while on oxygen tanks. One would not have to go far to see old and dilapidated buildings in their own neighborhoods. It wouldn't take you long to drive down the road to see a car that is falling apart or broke down on the side of the road. Why? People simply have not made the upkeep of these things a priority in life; they know how to maintain their health, home, and automobile but have simply failed to do it.

When children are missing church regularly, one thing can immediately be said about their parents: Church is not the priority in the home. When Jesus said on the Sermon on the Mount to seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness… (Matthew 6:33), he meant what he said. He wants us to make his spiritual kingdom our number one priority. Jesus used the terms Kingdom and Church interchangeably in Matthew 16: 18-19 "And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven ..." The church is God's kingdom and we are commanded to seek it first in our lives. I believe one would find it a hard argument to make that they've sought first the kingdom if they have failed to even show up for the services of the Lord's people. If you find yourself slipping in attending the assembly of the Lord's people, examine your priorities and look back to what Solomon said in his search for earthly wisdom: Ecclesiastes 1:13-14 And I applied my heart to seek and to search out by wisdom all that is done under heaven. It is an unhappy business that God has given to the children of man to be busy with. I have seen everything that is done under the sun, and behold, all is vanity and a striving after wind.

Instead of spending your time seeking happiness out of things here on earth, apply your heart to ensuring that you and your children are seeking after a spiritual kingdom with a heavenly outcome.