Not forsaking

...not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. – Hebrews 10v25

In many of the churches I have been associated with this was probably the oft quoted verse. At times it was used in an almost legalistic way to say that ‘no matter what else happens, every time the doors of this church are open you had better be here or you are walking in willful disobedience to the Lord.’

Now, I don’t believe for a moment that this is what God is saying to us. However the word of God is clear – it is imperative that God’s people assemble together. It is impossible to be an ‘unchurched Christian.’

Already, when this was written people had begun to neglect assembling together. It is so much easier to stay home and not worry about it. We all have busy lives and distractions; so far too often the assemblage of God’s people gets shunted into the background.

The truth is that everyone going to church has a job to do. It is not just the pastors, teacher, musicians, or any other position. We all have a responsibility to be exhorters, and more so as we watch our world degenerate and fall apart. We need encouragement and exhortation and the place we get that is in each other.

It is not about numbers or rules or anything like that. It is the responsibility of each and every one of us to be there and to encourage and exhort others in the body.