A few weeks ago, one of the girls in my Bible class broke her ankle playing soccer. I think it happened on a Friday, and I didn’t expect to see her on Sunday morning. When I arrived in my classroom, there she was crutches and all.

I told her I was surprised to see her; but her reply was, “Of course I’m here”. She didn’t miss a single service during her recovery.

Several weeks later, there was a big soccer tournament over a weekend. Since this girl had not played in weeks, I didn’t know if she would be able to play in the tournament.

When class began on Sunday morning, there she was in her regular place. She told me that she had been allowed to play some on Friday. She said, “I would have probably been allowed to play this morning, but I couldn’t go. My place is at worship.”

She did participate on Sunday afternoon, but she and her family were back at worship on Sunday evening. There was no question in this child’s mind where she would be when the church assembled on Sunday morning and evening.

It seems that the decision was made long before a soccer tournament was scheduled on a Sunday morning. The decision was made that this family would worship with the saints on Sunday morning and Sunday evening.

I often hear from people today that worshiping once on Sunday is enough. I also hear that if you can’t be at worship, you can just have a devotional at home. There is also the opinion that Sunday evening worship isn’t required. Some congregations are even advocating “family time” on Sunday evenings or dismissing Sunday evening worship.

I am so thankful that there are families that still put the Lord first. They value the time we spend in worship, and they understand the importance of being present for the remembrance of the death of Jesus as we take the Lord’s Supper.

We need to all be like this family. They truly know what it is like to put God first.

Sandra Oliver