How You Come to God Matters More Than You Think

Meta Description: Pastor [Name] unpacked Ecclesiastes 5 to show us three postures that transform how we enter God's presence — and why it changes everything. URL Slug: how-we-come-to-god-ecclesiastes-5 Featured Image: A quiet, sunlit church interior with an open Bible on a wooden pew — evoking reverence, stillness, and the invitation to encounter God.

There's something most of us have never stopped to think about: how we show up to worship matters just as much as that we show up.

This past Sunday, Pastor [Name] brought us a message from one of the Bible's most surprising books — and challenged every one of us to take a hard look at the posture of our hearts when we come into the presence of God.

A Strange Book With Timeless Wisdom

Pastor [Name] has been leading us through the book of Ecclesiastes, a book he honestly described as "probably one of the strangest books in the Bible." Written by Solomon, Ecclesiastes wrestles with the emptiness of life lived apart from God. But woven throughout its pages are some of the wisest observations ever written — and Ecclesiastes 5 contains one of them.

He opened our reading in verses 1–7:

"Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Better to approach in obedience than to offer the sacrifice as fools do, for they ignorantly do wrong. Do not be hasty to speak, and do not be impulsive to make a speech before God. God is in heaven, and you are on the earth, so let your words be few... When you make a vow to God, don't delay fulfilling it, because he does not delight in fools. Fulfill what you vow... Therefore, fear God." — Ecclesiastes 5:1–7

Solomon's instruction is simple and searching: watch your step when you come to God. Pastor [Name] drew out three postures from this passage that shaped the rest of the morning.

Come With a Humble Heart

The first posture is how we arrive. Solomon warns against those who "offer the sacrifice as fools do" — going through all the motions of worship while their hearts are somewhere else entirely. The alternative, he says, is to approach God in obedience. To come ready to listen and be changed.

Pastor [Name] made this vivid with a memorable contrast: the difference between a food critic and a hungry person. A food critic sits down to evaluate and analyze. A hungry person just wants to eat. "When it comes to church," he said, "we don't come to critique — we come to eat."

He also drew on C.S. Lewis's The Screwtape Letters, where a senior demon coaches a junior one on how to derail a Christian's worship. The strategy? Turn their gaze away from God and toward themselves — toward the person singing off-key, the preacher's imperfections, the music style. Lewis wrote that "the search for a suitable church makes the man a critic when the enemy wants him to be a pupil."

The sermon may not always be perfect. The music might miss a note. But Pastor [Name] reminded us that if we come with a hungry, humble heart — genuinely seeking God — we can still encounter him. The most important thing we bring into the room isn't our preferences. It's our posture.

Listen With an Open Ear

The second posture is what we do once we're there. Solomon writes, "Do not be hasty to speak... God is in heaven, and you are on the earth, so let your words be few" (Ecclesiastes 5:2).

Pastor [Name] walked us through a string of proverbs that reinforce this point. Proverbs 10:19 says, "Where there are many words, sin is unavoidable, but the one who controls his lips is prudent." Proverbs 17:28 adds, "Even a fool is considered wise when he keeps silent."

The application to worship is direct: we don't come to tell God what we know. We come because God has something to say to us. Worship isn't a performance we put on — it's an audience we're given.

He brought this home through the parable Jesus told in Luke 18. Two men prayed in the temple. The Pharisee had many words — a long list of his accomplishments and his distance from sinners. The tax collector had only a few: "God, have mercy on me, a sinner." Jesus said it was the man with fewer words who went home right with God.

Leave With an Obedient Resolve

The third posture is what happens when we walk out the door. Solomon warns solemnly against making vows to God and not keeping them — against talking big and following through with nothing.

Pastor [Name] didn't let this become abstract. He was clear that there are commitments every one of us should make — and keep. First, a commitment to Jesus Christ: recognizing our sin, believing in his death and resurrection, and trusting him as Lord. Second, a commitment to God's people — to a church body, to covenant community, to showing up and planting your life somewhere.

"I can tell everything about your life by seeing what you're committed to," he said. Worship isn't just something that happens on Sunday morning. It's a way of life shaped by what we've promised and whether we follow through.

Three Postures That Change Everything

By the time Pastor [Name] brought the message home, the shape of the whole sermon came into focus:

• Come with a humble heart — ready to listen, not just go through the motions
• Listen with an open ear — letting God speak rather than filling the room with our own words
• Leave with an obedient resolve — taking what we've received and living it out

As he put it: "Worshiping God, understood correctly, is the most serious, transformative thing you will ever do."

We may never find ourselves in an elevator with royalty or ushered into the Oval Office. But every one of us has an open invitation to come before the King of Kings. The question Solomon — and Pastor [Name] — is asking us this week is simply this: When you come, how do you come?

If you missed Sunday's message, we encourage you to watch the full sermon on our website or YouTube channel. And if this message stirred something in you — a question, a conviction, a desire to go deeper — consider joining one of our small groups where you can continue the conversation with others who are asking the same questions.

Social Media Excerpt (Facebook/Instagram): How you come to God matters just as much as that you come. This Sunday, Pastor [Name] took us to Ecclesiastes 5 and challenged us with three postures that transform our worship: a humble heart, a listening ear, and an obedient resolve. If you missed it — or just need to hear it again — the full message is on our website.

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