Written by: John Sernaque
Call to Worship
Deuteronomy 23:14
23:14 For the LORD thy God walketh in the midst of thy camp, to deliver thee, and to give up thine enemies before thee; therefore shall thy camp be holy: that he see no unclean thing in thee, and turn away from thee.
No Uncleanness of Body, Word, or Spirit—
In order to be acceptable in God’s sight, the leaders of the people were to give strict heed to the sanitary condition of the armies of Israel, even when they went forth to battle. Every soul, from the commander-in-chief to the lowest soldier in the army, was sacredly charged to preserve cleanliness in his person and surroundings; for the Israelites were chosen by God as His peculiar people. They were sacredly bound to be holy in body and spirit. They were not to be careless or neglectful of their personal duties. In every respect they were to preserve cleanliness. They were to allow nothing untidy or unwholesome in their surroundings, nothing which would taint the purity of the atmosphere. Inwardly and outwardly they were to be pure [Deuteronomy 23:14 quoted] (Letter 35, 1901). {1BC 1119.4}
We know His will, and any departure from it to follow ideas of your own is a dishonor to His name, a reproach to His sacred truth. Everything that relates to the worship of God on earth, is to bear in appearance a striking resemblance to heavenly things. There must be no careless disregard in these things, if you expect the Lord to favor you with His presence. He will not have His work placed on a level with common, temporal things (Manuscript 7, 1889). {1BC 1119.5}
All those who come into His presence should give special attention to the body and the clothing. Heaven is a clean and holy place. God is pure and holy. All who come into His presence should take heed to His directions, and have the body and the clothing in a pure, clean condition, thus showing respect to themselves and to Him. The heart must also be sanctified. Those who do this will not dishonor His sacred name by worshiping Him while their hearts are polluted and their apparel is untidy. God sees these things. He marks the heart-preparation, the thoughts, the cleanliness in appearance, of those who worship Him ((Manuscript 126, 1901). {1BC 1119.6}
When we pray, or come into the church sanctuary, we are entering into God’s presence, unto Holy ground. Just as Moses took off his shoes in reverence to God, we are to show the same type of reverence to our Almighty God. No matter where we are in our life, we are to bring God our very best. We are not to approach God in a careless manner, but as purely as we are currently able. God loves us to come to Him, and loves us just the way we are. He knows our hearts, and if we make our best effort in the body and the clothing, we show respect to ourselves and to God. God sees your preparation in mind and body in honor of His sacred name. God honors those who honor Him.
Our heavenly Father,
We thank you for giving us this privilege and the honor of being able to come into Your presence. We are so thankful for the Word You have given us to live by. May You shine Your light upon us that we may see Your glory. We come to You in our very best state of mind and body. We pray that You forgive us of our sins, and cleanse us of all unrighteousness that You would see no unclean thing in us and turn away from us. We pray that You do not take Your Spirit or Light away from us. May we dwell in Your secret place and abide under Your shadow. We thank You for Your love and Your mercy, and for hearing and answering our prayers. We pray these things, in the name of Christ Jesus. Amen.
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