Not Forsaking the Assembling
Pastor Jerry A. BurnsNot forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.
Hebrews 10:25Today is Remembrance Day, and across the country people will gather to remember those who served and those who did not come home. There is something about gathering that a man alone cannot do.
The writer of Hebrews knew that about the church. He tells us to “consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is.”
Even then, there were some whose manner it was to stay away. They had their reasons, as people do today. But the writer does not treat it as a small thing. Gathering is where we provoke one another, in the good sense, to love and to good works. It is where we exhort one another. A believer who stays home cuts himself off from all of that, and cuts the others off from him. I feel it when someone is missing. The room is not the same without them.
And he gives a reason to gather more, not less: “so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.” The closer we get to the Lord’s return, the more we need each other.
I am thankful for a church to gather with. I have never left a service worse off for having come.
Is church becoming optional for you? The Bible says we need each other, and the day is approaching.
