Do You Like Going to Church

Many people like to go to church. King David, an avid churchgoer, said, "Let us go to the House of the Lord" (Psalm 121 (122):1). Others, however, will visit the church very seldom. Not having found satisfaction in the attendance of church services they always look for excuses not to attend. The reasons for attending church are varied. Some attend church because of a feeling of being compelled by parents or their peers. Some seek the approval of friends or imaginary rewards. For example, they may feel that they do God some kind of favor by attending Church and, therefore, they expect a reward from God for their attendance at church. Habit and a social want to be part of some group or organization play a big part in attendance at services. Still, others go to church purely out of how they feel at a certain moment or how they are disposed at that moment. Come Sunday, or any holiday, they will always question themselves, "Should I not go to church or should I?"

The answer to this will always be based on how happy or sad they feel at that moment. To truly be happy in attending church we should consider those factors that make us happy, enthusiastic, and enjoy visiting other people and their homes. As a general rule we like visiting those that in some way bring spiritual, intellectual, or physical enrichment to our daily lives. It is anticipation on our part of time well spent. As we learn more about each other our friendship grows stronger and we want to visit each other more.

Therefore, if we think of God as totally enriching us in our daily lives we will be happy to visit Him in His house. But, on the other hand, if we feel that we don't need Him because we are completely capable of providing for ourselves and, in addition, we fear Him due to lack of knowledge of Him, we will avoid Him even more. As we grow in knowledge of all the good that God does for us, we like to thank Him personally; moreover, we like to publicly share with others the knowledge of the goodness that he has done for us (by letting others know how often we think of Him). We like to be in communion with the family of the faithful of God. So, although we sometimes feel that the service is too long, the words are not understood, or the proceedings complicated, we happily go to the House of God because we love Him and want to express publicly our thanks to Him.

http://ukrcathedral.com/index.php