There were three great pilgrimage feasts when all the males of Israel were to appear in Jerusalem before God

Deu 16:16  Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before the LORD thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the LORD empty.

There were three great pilgrimage feasts when all the males of Israel were to appear in Jerusalem before God – the feast of Passover, feast of Pentecost (also called Feast of Weeks) and feast of Tabernacles. During those feasts, tens of thousands of pilgrims would flock to Jerusalem to worship the God of Israel. And as they came, God asked them not to appear empty-handed but to come into His presence with gifts which would honour God: they shall not appear before the LORD empty.

Would you go to a birthday party or to a wedding empty handed? You won’t, right? Well in the same way, we don’t want to come before God without a gift to offer Him. We don’t want to come before God empty-handed!

Unfortunately, we live in an entertainment culture where we go to church service to “get,” to be entertained, and to feel good. We should come to church with the attitude that we are there to give, not get.

What should we bring to the place of worship? I submit to you that first, we must bring our hearts: “This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me” (Matthew 15:8). Sadly, some do not bring their hearts when they come on Sundays: “God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit (that is, with the heart) and in truth” (John 4:24, parenthesis mine). Our hearts must not be empty but filled with praises of joy to sing to God (Hebrews 13:15).

Secondly, we must bring our ears; ears that are ready to hear the word of God. Yes, there are some who don’t want to hear. And, one reason they don’t want to hear is because they dislike the kind of preaching the preacher is preaching; it hurts them. So, they shut their ears: “For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them” (Matthew 13:15). They do not want to be healed because they love their sins.

Lastly, we must bring our hands. Our hands must not be empty. They are to be filled with these two things:

(1) Offerings of thanksgiving: “Let us come before his presence with thanksgiving, and make a joyful noise unto him with psalms” (Psalm 95:2).

(2) Hands ready to serve God.  “Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve” (Matthew 4:10).

A story was told of a young man who was about to die. He’d only been a Christian for a month, and was sad because he’d had so little time to serve the Lord. He said, “I am not afraid to die…But must I go empty handed?” When Charles Luther heard those words, it prompted him to write this hymn, Must I Go, and Empty Handed, a part of which says:

“Must I go, and empty handed,”

Thus my dear Redeemer meet?

Not one day of service give Him,

Lay no trophy at His feet?”

That young man, though only being a Christian for a very short time, was grieved that he had so little time to serve the Lord and that he had to go and meet His Lord empty handed. Yet, many of us (myself included) who have been Christians for years, have wasted many hours, days, and years for which we will have to give an account.

That young man has a good excuse when he appears before his Lord empty handed. What about us? What excuse do we have if we come to the Lord empty handed?

Jimmy Lau

Psa 119:97  Oh how love I thy law! It is my meditation all the day.