I hate the time change twice a year. It’s a pain, and it messes with my sleep.

Forever seared in my mind is one of the most embarrassing moments of my early adult life. It happened in the late 1980s. The cause—Daylight Savings Time. 

My husband and I had not been attending church. We decided to surprise my parents by showing up at their church. We confidently walked through the door. The service was already in session. Thinking their clock must be set five minutes fast, we scanned the church for a place to sit. All the pews in the back were full. Finally, we spotted one half-empty pew in the middle of the church down the center aisle. We proceeded to that location trying to be unnoticed. But everyone stared at us. We positioned ourselves in the empty pew. The hymn ended and the pastor prayed. 

We double-checked our watches. We were only five minutes late. Nevertheless, the congregation burst into talk and started to collect their things. To our embarrassment, we discovered it was Daylight Savings Sunday.

Today’s technology which automatically updates the time on our phones makes that kind of embarrassment less likely to happen. However, even now the time change presents a challenge because the interior timepieces in our bodies, the bodies of our children, and the bodies of our pets do no automatically adjust with the changing of a date set by Congress.

Rather than dealing with the time change on Sunday, many people chose to sleep the hour deprived by the powers that be. It makes no difference that Monday morning they have to abide by Daylight Savings Time. Rather than start the body adjustment on Sunday, they put it off until Monday.

I’m human. Sometimes I’d like to skip church for purely selfish reasons. But church is not negotiable for believers. God has told us we are to set aside one day to worship him. He has stated numerous times in His Word that we are to meet with other believers.

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another —and all the more as you see the Day approaching.  Hebrews 10:24-25

I encourage you, and myself, to not let excuses stop us from fellowshipping with believers and worshipping our all-powerful God.

How do you overcome the temptation to skip church?

#meettogether #attendchurch #excusestomiss