Tom Jones and Sam Brown went to church service on a Sunday morning. They entered the auditorium side by side. They sat in the same pew. After the last song, they left as they had come. Torn said to Sam, “The service was a soul feast! The songs were inspiring, the prayers comforting and the sermon uplifting. The Lord’s Supper was a beautiful reminder of the suffering Servant of God and the price for our salvation. I am a better man because of this service!” Sam replied to Tom, “I’ll be frank to say that no such inspiration came to me, but then again I wasn’t expecting much so I was not surprised when I didn’t get much. As far as I’m concerned, that was just another religious service — a thing to be endured, not enjoyed.”
The question is how could the same worship service prove to be a blessing to one and a thing of indifference to another? Because the first man came seeking a blessing and found it; he came hungering and thirsting after righteousness and was filled. The other found no blessing because he was not looking for a blessing, because he had made no room in his heart for a blessing.
The difference in mental attitude makes all the difference in the world! What we are in heart determines what we see, what we hear, what we find, what we receive. Before we can get anything out of a church worship service, we must of necessity put something into it— our love, our devotion, our individual attention, our sympathetic attitude. In order to receive, we must give. We often think that the trouble is on the OUTSIDE of us, when in reality the trouble is on the INSIDE! “Blessed are the pure in heart; for they shall see God”.