Fellowship of Believers – Hebrews 10:25a
Not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some,
For the pure joy of honoring Him, we, who have committed to obeying the Lord’s instruction to not forsake the gathering together, go to church regularly to worship the Lord Most High. We are glad when another says, “Let us go into the house of the Lord.”[1] We assemble, along with our families, to hear and learn about our God, so we may understand His Word and thereby observe His teachings.[2] We gather in reverence for our heavenly Father because He tells us to do so and we desire to obey His Word in all respects. We gather in His house for prayer, entreating the favor of the Lord, seeking Him, desiring to abide on the holy ground where He abides, and to know that He hears our voices lifted in supplication.[3] We assemble for fellowship that we might find comfort in our Christian family. We bring our tithes in obedience to the Lord’s command that we provide for the needs of His church, neglecting not His house,[4] and we meet in Christian unity to break bread and share wine in remembrance of our Lord according to His instruction.[5]
We do not want to be like the indolent who justify lying in bed on Sunday morning, seeing themselves as wiser than average[6] and therefore, in no need of further instruction in the Lord. Nor do we want to be like perpetual wanderers, endlessly in search of the perfect church and finding none satisfactory for each has some leadership or program deficiency. Such faintheartedness, lack of steadfastness, and resistance to authority, cut one off from the protection of the Lord and the riches of membership in the body of Christ.
Having traded our alien status for fellowship with Christ and His church, we are growing in love for our Lord and His people. We rejoice, for the Lord is building us into holy temples, those in which He has laid Himself as the cornerstone.[7] Therefore, no excuse, supposition, fear, or inertia should keep us, God’s family members, from joining our brothers and sisters in church. Rather than remaining on the periphery, guarding our independence, and refusing to commit to regular church attendance, we celebrate as the King welcomes us, His beloved family, into His house.
Go joyfully into the sanctuary,
entering through its doors with praise and thanksgiving, for the Lord is good
and His loving-kindness is everlasting.[8]
[1] Psalm 122:1
[2] John 14:23
[3] Zechariah 8:21
[4] Malachi 3:10, Nehemiah 10:39
[5] Luke 22:19-20
[6] Proverbs 26:16
[7] Ephesians 2:19-21
[8] Psalm 95:2
