I was glad when they said to me, “Let us go into the house of the LORD.”     Psalm 122:1 NKJV

I was raised in church. As a child and teenager, I was in church Sunday morning, Sunday evening and Wednesday nights. It was not optional. There was never any question about what we would be doing on Sunday or on Wednesday night. When VBS was held there was no question about whether or not I would attend. My mom had me at church every time the doors were open. I don’t really remember complaining about it, it was just what was expected of me. It was no different than being expected to attend school.

But as I grew older and moved out on my own, my church attendance wasn’t always as regular as it had been. There were times in my life when I went every Sunday. I had outgrown the need for Sunday school and night services. I figured one hour a week was good. But then something happened. I began to enjoy church again.

At the urging of my husband, we began to go to Sunday school. I really enjoyed studying the Bible and learning so many things I never knew. I thought I had learned all this stuff in Sunday School as a child but boy was I wrong. I’ve learned that every time we read Scripture there is more to be learned from it. There have been numerous times my pastor has pointed out something in a sermon about a particular piece of Scripture I had never thought about.

The funny thing about some of the things we do is that at first, we don’t want to do them. But the more we do them the more we want to do them. For example, I don’t care for water. But the more I drink it the more I want to drink it. Same with the Bible. There was a time when I just didn’t care if I read it or not. I was busy. I would hear all about it if I went to church Sunday, right? But then as I began to study it, I realized that there is so much in that Book. It’s God’s love letter to us. It’s God’s instruction manual for how we should live. It’s the history of the creation and all those that came before us. It’s Jesus’s story. It’s the gospel which we are supposed to be spreading.

This is why I understand what David meant when he said, “I was glad when they said to me, ‘Let us come into the house of the LORD.'” I have come to love being in God’s house. If you surrender to Him, you will love it too. I say this because I didn’t always love going to church. For many years I did it out of obligation. But once I surrendered to Him and understood how awesome He is and how much He loves me, I began to really enjoy church. I began to really enjoy studying the Bible.

There is a t-shirt that says, “Jesus is my happy place.” I agree with this statement, I guess this is why His house has also become my happy place. Surrender to Him and you will be amazed at the joy you find studying His word in His house. When Jesus is our happy place, everywhere we go (especially His house) will be our happy place.

Have a great day!