Sunday has always had a way of telling the truth about our priorities. I’ve watched society change over the years and schedules fill up, but the old question remains the same: What comes first on the Lord’s Day?

From the beginning, God set aside a day for worship (Acts 20:7). When worship gets pushed aside, whether for sleep, sports, travel, or convenience, it is not because we lacked time, but because something else claimed first place.

I’ve seen faithful saints who came to worship tired, hurting, and burdened…but they came. And I’ve seen how the Lord met them there. Hebrews reminds us, “not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another” (Hebrews 10:25). Notice, it’s not just about you. Morning and evening worship are both needed because encouragement is needed continually. One hour with God does not exhaust our need for Him.

Morning worship declares that God gets the first word of the day. “But as for me, I shall come into Your house in the abundance of Your lovingkindness” (Psalm 5:7). Evening worship says He still matters after the day has worn us down. David said, “Let my prayer be established as incense before You; the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering” (Psalm 141:2). The bookends matter. When we give God both, we say with our actions that He is not an obligation to squeeze in, but the center everything else is built around.

I understand life is demanding. I know we get tired and schedules get complicated. Love for God must be real, but so must conviction. Jesus said, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). First means first. Not leftover. Not if nothing else comes up.

Putting worship first on Sunday trains our hearts for the rest of the week. It teaches others what matters most. It anchors our souls when everything else feels unstable. I’ve lived long enough to know this much: you never regret a Sunday fully given to God, but you often regret the ones you didn’t.

By: Justin Odom