Meeting Together
Scripture: Hebrews
10:22-25 (NIV)
22 let us draw near
to God with a sincere heart and with the full assurance that faith brings,
having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having
our bodies washed with pure water. 23 Let us hold unswervingly
to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. 24 And
let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, 25 not
giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging
one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
Devotion:
The author of Hebrews is in this
passage desiring that all Christians grow closer to each other in fellowship.
The plain fact is we need each other. Brothers and sisters under one God and
Father of us all. It is the Father’s will that we should meet together and encourage
one another to live godly lives.
We are to hold onto our profession
of Christ as savior. Let us remind and encourage each other to good works for the
uplifting of Jesus’ name. The Lord is faithful to all his promises. We can rely
on them to deliver good works through our lives. According to our scripture for
today we are to draw near to God. We must have our hearts devoted to our
savior, fully assured that Christ is our salvation. Baptized with the Holy
Spirit and washed in water for our purification to approach our Father.
With us holding on to the hope we
have in God’s promises as they can never be broken. We must be encouraging each
other. It is easy to become discouraged walking the Christian life as a
solitary individual. Those who can truly live as hermits relying only on God
and themselves are few and far between. We need each other to live in joy, power,
and love of the Holy Spirit. It is only when we are together physically that we
can truly enjoy fellowship with each other.
We are to help each other do good
deeds for Christ. While it is completely true that our faith in Christ is essential
to our salvation. The doing of good works should come naturally to the saved
individual. We all need encouragement and help to achieve what God has planned
for us to do since the founding of the world.
Now we come to the part of the
passage that leaves preaching and turns to meddling in our lives. The author
says we must not give up the meeting together. Apparently even in the early Christian
church there were some who tried to be lone ranger Christians. Those who
stopped going to Sunday worship and tried to live on their own. In our days it
has been made worse by the years of pandemic. People have gotten so used to
staying at home and catching services on their electronic devices that the
thought of being in the place where worship happens has left their minds. Every
person who is able bodied and of sound mind should be in worship at a church. I
think scriptures give us very little option. Let us pray for each other that we
might be encouraged to be faithful children of God.
Prayer:
Lord, thank you for your great love for us. You have
provided a way for us to be together in worship in this country. Let us restore
those bonds of Christian love that have become weakened during the pandemic. May
we bring glory to your name by our fellowship with each other. Glory to God
alone. Amen.
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