"And it came to pass, that, as the people pressed upon him to hear the word of God, he stood by the lake of Gennesaret, and saw two ships standing by the lake: but the fishermen were gone out of them, and were washing their nets. And he entered into one of the ships, which was Simon’s, and prayed him that he would thrust out a little from the land. And he sat down, and taught the people out of the ship." (Luke 5:1-3)

What a glorious scene this must have been!

Contrary to the trend of today where pastors and churches are continually encouraging and begging people to come or come back to church, the believers of the first century "pressed" Jesus to preach to them all the time.

What has happened to our culture that so drastic a change has happened? Why is there so little interest in the Lord and the word of God? Why is it that good churches feel the need to abandon the practice and doctrine of the Bible and introduce entertainment in their worship just to get people in their doors?

First of all, the Lord Himself established His church and how it should function. Therefore, we should be very careful to lay the blame on "outdated customs and methods." Jesus knew what men would be like 2,000 years later so He set up a system of worship that was simple to follow in any era of time.

The problem is not the message of the Bible or even the simple form and order of worship. The problem is US.

We make excuses for being late or missing church that we would never use for our jobs. Do we feel that our earthly boss deserves more honor than our Redeemer?

We live very comfortable lives in our air-conditioned homes and cars, both filled with TV's and other distraction devices. Have we become so comfortable that we feel no need for the Holy Comforter?

We get upset when our fast-food order takes more than 2 minutes. We want instant gratification for our desires. Are we no longer patient enough for the Lord to teach us slowly and steadily through the preached word?

I could go on and on. The problem is us. We need to change not the church. We need to have more zeal for the Lord and for His word that He gave us. After all, He died for us can we not LIVE for Him?