(posted : Friday Nov 15, 2013)
We live busy lives in a busy society. There is always something to do. There is always something else that needs our attention. We are constantly on the go. Even when I was growing up, I can remember stores that weren't open on Sunday simply because it was Sunday. In my house, we didn't do anything on Sunday that wasn't church or family related. We didn't go run in a marathon, hit up the mall or go to a sporting event. And we certainly didn't miss church. Now, my dad was a pastor, so we kind of had to be there. But we knew that church was a non-negotiable. We had to be next-to-death-sick in order to not go to church.
We live busy lives in a busy society. There is always something to do. There is always something else that needs our attention. We are constantly on the go. Even when I was growing up, I can remember stores that weren't open on Sunday simply because it was Sunday. In my house, we didn't do anything on Sunday that wasn't church or family related. We didn't go run in a marathon, hit up the mall or go to a sporting event. And we certainly didn't miss church. Now, my dad was a pastor, so we kind of had to be there. But we knew that church was a non-negotiable. We had to be next-to-death-sick in order to not go to church.
We live in a different world today. There are so many more things competing for our time! Football games, color runs, going out on the boat, sleeping in, amusement parks, homework, dance recitals, the beach, and so much more are all screaming our names, desiring our attention. So where does church fit into this? For many Christians today, we go to church when it is convenient for us. If nothing else is going on, if the weather cooperates (but not if it is too nice - because then we may need to go out on the boat or for a picnic), if I am not too tired, then I will go to church. But don't expect me to go to the worship service AND small group Bible study. That is asking too much!
And do we really need church EVERY week? In Acts 2:44-47, the Bible gives us a great picture of the importance of church: "Now all the believers were together and held all things in common. They sold their possessions and property and distributed the proceeds to all, as anyone had a need. Every day they devoted themselves to meeting together in the temple complex, and broke bread from house to house. They ate their food with a joyful and humble attitude, praising God and having favor with all the people. And every day the Lord added to them those who were being saved." (HCSB, emphasis added). Hebrews 10:23-25 says, "Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near." (HCSB)
In Acts, we see that the church was meeting every day, first in the temple, and then going house to house! And not coincidentally, every day people were being saved! In Hebrews we are commanded to go to church, and to increase our attendance as we are getting closer to Jesus' return!
So if we look at the example of the early church, and we understand the command given in Hebrews, we can come to this conclusion: worshipping God together is important to God. Not only is it important, but since it is commanded to stop "staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do," then if we are continually not going to church, we are sinning. (Sin takes place any time we disobey God. So if we are not doing something God tells us to do, or we are doing something He tells us not to do, we are sinning.)
What many of us need is a re-arraingment of our priorities. If we are true believers, then God should be important to us. If God is important to us, then obeying God should also be important to us. If obeying God is important to us, then we need to make sure we do not plan to disobey God. Romans 13:14 says, "But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no plans to satisfy the fleshly desires."
When we choose to do something else instead of going to church, we are planning to satisfy our fleshly desires. We are saying there is something more important the corporate worship and hearing from God's Word. Ask yourself this question: Is what I am planning to do more important than God? Is sleeping in more important? Is going out on the boat more important? Is going to the amusement park more important? Is running this race more important? How you answer that question shows what your priorities really are. And leads us to making church just another option in a busy life.
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