Pastor’s Pen
Preparing to go the House of the Lord
(Part 2)
Eccles. 5:1 “Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, 
than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil.”
- Keep (imperative meaning it’s a command or order) = guard, attend to, watch, 
to hedge about, have charge of, protect. 
- Thy foot (thy - is personal meaning each individual is responsible for this action. 
*Foot speaks of our walk (which includes behavior or conduct, and how you live), paths of life,
 or direction. *Your walk and worship can not be separated. Your walk influences your worship 
and your worship influences you walk. The house of God manifest your weekly walk. 
You can’t walk with the world or in the flesh during the week and worship God on Sunday.
- When thou goest = (The imperfect expresses an action, process or condition which is incomplete), 
that is when you go and keep going. You will never reach a point in this life that you will 
no longer need to go to the house of the Lord.
- When = (not if you go but when you go). It is understood in scriptures that 
believers go to the house of God. Again, it’s not if but when thou goest.
- goest = implies both a departure and destiny. That is, a leaving (your house) and arriving (at God’s house). 
Yet another scriptural point against the so called “house or home churches”, where people just stay 
at home and supposedly have church, instead of going to the house of the God as God’s word commands.
- And be more ready to hear…. *There are two responsibilities of readiness implied here. 
First, is on the part of the hearer to be ready to hear. Hearing requires a getting ready. 
Second, is on the part of who is responsible for what is to be heard. There is to be something at the 
house of God to hear. The preaching, teaching, singing, testimonies, etc. is to be ready to be heard.
- to hear = (hearing also includes heeding or obeying what you hear.
- than to give the sacrifice of fools: The word sacrifice speaks of religious practice. 
Fools speak of those that are irreverent or careless in giving of their sacrifice. 
- they consider not (know, perceive, or discern), that they do evil. 
*Much of what goes on in churches are fools doing evil and don’t even consider it. 
Just because something is religious don’t make the person right. 
*Going to church without spiritual readiness is foolish resulting in ignorance of the wrong being practiced.
- The last part of this verse can be corrected or prevented by the first part of the verse, 
a preparation or readiness of going to God’s House.


- Pastor Barry Rackley

www.rbtonline.org