My Dad has a saying that I like 'you do what you want to do' and it basically means that people will always do what they want to do. We live in a world where comfort is the priority. If it's too hot, we buy an air conditioner, if it's too cold we bundle up and stay indoors by the stove. If we had something that we were suppose to be attending, we make excuses because we don't want to be uncomfortable. We do what we want to do.
When I was little we were expected to eat what was placed before us. There weren't options. If I didn't like it, too bad, that's what supper was and if I wanted to eat, that's what there was to eat. It's not the same nowadays in many households. There are mulitiple choices for every meal because we want everyone to be comfortable. When I was little and my parents took me somewhere to visit I was expected to sit and listen or find a book to look at but certainly never to be obnoxious or loud. Nowadays many people don't visit because their children might be uncomfortable and can't behave anyway because nothing has ever been expected of them.
We are doing our generation a grave disservice when we hand them everything on a silver platter and expect nothing in return. I knew that if I endured a meal that I didn't like, there was always a good dessert to top it off. I knew that if I put up with a boring grown up visit that Mom or Dad would do something that I enjoyed another time. When we expect nothing of our children we are setting them up for a terrible disappointment when they reach adulthood and the world doesn't always do things their own way and doesn't hand them things with nothing in return.
And I think we are setting them up for failure on a spiritual level as well. The Word says "Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need." Matt.6:33. We are to put God and His Kingdom above everything else, everything even our own comfort. If we can't sacrifice our comfort for God, then we are placing ourselves above Him. Yet when we need Him to bale us out of a bind, we expect Him to be there. This is not the lesson we need to teach our children.
I once had a woman tell me that God understood why she missed so much church. She did not have a sickness or job responsibilities. She didn't have small children who were sick. The only excuse that she had was that she enjoyed sleeping in on Sunday mornings and she didn't like to drive after dark. My response to her was "does He?" Where does it say that in the Bible? Where does it say that God understands that your needs are more important than your service to Him??
I think that as a society we have bought into the world's view of God as being some jolly old man, much like a grandfather or Santa Claus, who will laugh at our childishness and pat us on the head. The world will say 'God is love' and yes He is but the Word tells us that He is a jealous God and He will have no other gods before Him. He has to be first in our lives, above all else and above anyone else, including ourselves. So you might not like going to church in the snow, or the rain or when it's too hot or too cold or whatever other excuse you are currently using, just remember that He has to come first if you are going to have a relationship with Him. He has to come above even your own comfort.
If we seek Him first, everything else that we need will be given to us. So yes, I guess God does understand when we don't put Him first. He understands that we have chosen to do what we want to do and put ourselves first.
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