Shout triumphantly to the LORD, all the earth. Serve the LORD with gladness; come before Him with joyful songs.  Acknowledge that Yahweh is God. He made us and we are His-His people, the sheep of His pasture.  Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him and praise His name.  For Yahweh is good, and His love is eternal; His faithfulness endures through all generations.  Psalm 100:1-5 HCSB

Have you ever been to a major league baseball game or a pro football game?  People get really excited over their teams. Now I like baseball and enjoy a good game, but I’m not much of a football fan unless the Saints are headed to the playoffs. Then I get a little excited, maybe not enough to watch the whole game, but enough to keep up with the scores.

People have no problem with cheering their team on. They are loud and proud. They don’t mind trying to correct a referee that they feel is not calling the game properly. They wear their team colors and they proudly display bumper stickers and flags on their cars and some even go so far as to paint their faces or bodies in their teams colors.

Now some people watch sports as a hobby. Some people have other hobbies, maybe old cars or boats. Maybe you like to fish or go water skiing. Maybe you like to hunt. The point is some people are very passionate about their hobbies. They will talk about them to anyone who will listen and they spend countless hours and lots of money pursuing these hobbies.

I said all this to ask you a few simple questions?  When was the last time you enjoyed your relationship with God as much as you enjoyed your hobby?  Do you put as much time, effort, and money into pursuing God and His word as you do your hobby? Now, I want you to give this some serious thought. No one but you and God will know how you truly answer this.

I have a little confession to make. Last Sunday, I was tired. I felt abused, misused, and reused. I had stayed up late several nights working on some of my own little projects. I had a busy week and I was exhausted. My 7 year old niece spent the night with me Saturday, which I was very grateful for, and we had a wonderful time. But Sunday morning was my usual rush to get everything done and get out the door to church. My niece looked at me after we had been up a couple hours and said, “Sundays are really busy mornings, right?”  I know for most of you that attend church it’s that way. What I’m trying to say is that I’ve been a little grumpy with my church attendance lately.  I read Psalm 100 this morning and was convicted.

The reason that I’ve been grumpy is because I have failed to be truly thankful.  Now, every day and night I begin my prayers by thanking God for that day because that’s how our pastor taught us to pray is by starting out with adoration, moving to confession and then thanks followed by supplication or what we need. An example of the model prayer that Jesus taught his disciples is in Matthew 6. He tells them to praise God, “Hallowed be they name”.  So, I always praise God and thank him for His mercy and His grace. But lately, they’ve just been words. I realized when I read this Psalm that I had been much more excited about the minor league baseball game that I had attended a few weeks ago than I had about church attendance. So, why is that? We have a great pastor. We have a wonderful church family. Well, as usual the problem is with me.  I have gotten so busy doing stuff that I have failed to do the most important thing.  I have failed to praise God and thank Him like I mean it.

I have allowed the devil to use those little annoyances that are a part of life to distract me.  He has used them to get me off track. He has put people in my path to irritate me and try to destroy my witness. I have been more agitated about those things that I have no control over.  So, this morning I am telling the devil that he can just go back to where he came from and leave me alone.  I am going to praise God. I am going to be thankful to God for all that He provides.  I am not going to focus on the evil that is in this world. I am going to focus on the Almighty God that has already conquered evil.  I am going to focus on the glorious life that awaits me when my time on earth is through.

I think I mentioned this the other day, but it bears repeating. Recently we did a study on the names of God by Tony Evans. It was a really good bible study and I strongly encourage you to at least read the book. When you see the LORD’s name in all caps it refers to Yahweh, God almighty.  There is nothing He can’t do. So, these little distractions that the devil sends your way must be seen as what they are, just little distractions. They are nothing that God can’t handle and nothing for you to worry about.

If you are feeling sluggish due to agitation and life’s just bogging you down, then I encourage you to join me.  Commit to praising God like you mean it.  Commit to meaning it when you thank Him for His mercy and His grace.  Mean it when you thank Him for working all things out for your good (Romans 8:28)

Be passionate about your love for God. He showed a great deal of passion when He gave his one and only Son for miserable sinners like you and me. Love Him like you mean it. Don’t just read Psalm 100 this morning, live it like you mean it. it’s good practice for when we get to heaven.

Have a great day!