“Well… there it is,” you are exclaiming, if you have been following along. The conversation always comes around to reading your bible, praying, and going to church.
I don’t really have a defense for you if this comes across as being negative nor do I have an apology. Being consistent in my attendance at church benefits me in so many ways. I am surrounded by people that love me and want God’s best for me. I am around people that will pray for me. I am around people that go out of their way to love my children. I am surrounded by people that are on the same journey that I am on so they understand how difficult it is to live holy in a sinful world. And the list goes on and on.
To many people see church attendance as and attendance issue. It is not. It is more than that. It is a relationship issue. You do not show up at church each week to simply be counted. You show up each week to participate in relationship with the other people that call your gathering their church home. Let me clarify with these words found in the book of Hebrews.
Hebrews 10:24-25…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. (NIV)
We show up at church each week to encourage one another in our faith journey. To challenge one another to walk closer to God. And we also show up to expect the same thing in return. It becomes a give and take relationship with all those that call your gathering their church home.
The reality is that the more you show up and the more you invest the better and stronger this relationship becomes and the more beneficial it is to you. We experience God in new ways as we walk closely with people that challenge us to walk closer to God.
My advice for this week… GET YOURSELF TO CHURCH!
Written by Larry Westfall. Copyright © Finding Wonder 2014.
