God, you, and me

I rejoiced with those who said to me 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'.  Psalm 122:1

Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing. Hebrews 10:25

I'm sure you will see the connection between these two verses. The Old Testament psalmist is excited - “I rejoiced!” - at the prospect of meeting with his fellow-Israelites to worship God; while whoever wrote the Letter to the Hebrews is worried about people who are getting out of the habit.

Red-hot enthusiasm: cold indifference... probably most of us are somewhere in the middle. On the one hand, the thought of going to church and attending other meetings is one we are quite happy with, but probably we don't actually "rejoice" over it. On the other hand, we wouldn't feel at all happy to drop out altogether. Worship and fellowship are part of the very fabric of our lives.

Fact: from the earliest times God has invited, and expected, his people to come together at regular intervals: Christianity is never, ever, just a solitary faith. We're in this together! None of this “I can worship God by walking in the country, or sitting in my bedroom or my back garden” nonsense!

But have you ever asked why it is that God wants us to meet together?

There are various reasons, but the most important is simply that we need special times to focus consciously on God, putting aside all the many things which normally clutter up our lives. Time to think, to pray, to worship, to absorb what God is saying to us - and then, of course, to head back into that busy world with our sleeves rolled up. (True worship is preparation more than escape.)

All right, you certainly can meet with God at home, or on that country walk, and so indeed you should. But it is never enough. God wants more for us: by being with others we gain encouragement through personal contact, we learn to love and care for one another, we develop in patience and Christlikeness, we grow through shouldering responsibility.

And coming together isn't just a matter for Sundays. Small-group fellowship at other times is one of the great joys of being a Christian. It amazes - and, indeed, troubles - me that there are genuine Christian people who never go along to a home-group or prayer-meeting. 

What good things they are missing! And how sad that they are denying their fellow-Christians the good things they themselves have to share! By getting together we are both a blessing to others and also blessed ourselves.

When it comes to "giving up meeting together", people (setting aside those who just don’t believe anyway and so have no reason to do so) usually put forward one main reason. You’ve probably heard it a thousand times: "I'm too busy... I just don’t have the time". 

This, frankly, is a cop-out. If we are too busy for God, then we are just plain too busy full stop, and it's time for a bit of reshuffling of our priorities.

Let's be honest, we aren't often too busy to make time for the things which are really important to us - even if it is only something as trivial as a favourite TV programme or a regular meal-time or making ourselves look nice in front of the mirror. The fact is that most of us have no problem at all in making time for what matters to us.

So if we don't make time to meet with God and our fellow-believers - well, that can only mean one thing: whatever we might say, God isn't really that important to us. Perhaps we need to come clean and face that fact and do some serious thinking.

Is this a word to you as you read this?

"Meeting together" is one of the main ways in which God makes known to us his love and grace. To neglect it is to sadden him, to imperil our own souls, and to impoverish our brothers and sisters in Christ.
 
Dear Father, forgive me that my heart is so lukewarm towards you, your word and your people. Send your Holy Spirit to set my heart on fire. And so may I, like the man in the psalm, know what it is to be excited to be in fellowship and worship with your people. Amen.

What steps should you take to reshuffle the priorities of your life and make room for what matters most?