“Not forsaking the assembling of yourselves together.” Hebrews 10:25
“A church is a family to live out your relationship with God in practical and personal ways.”
My thought for you today is about “belonging together.”
One of man’s strongest needs is to belong! When and where you feel you belong, really belong, you begin to understand how and why you belong – together! The connection with others, in many ways encourages your feeling that, and being that, and strengthens your sense of identity, esteem, and loyalty. To a great degree you will find those things, as well as a sense of personal well being, from the place and people where you feel you belong.
You are created to belong. Along the way, you will identify with and belong to many groups – your family, your circle of friends, your school, your company, your favorite sports team – but the Church is meant to be the most important and most eternal of all of those.
At the first moments of creation God announced, “It is not good that man should be alone. I will make a companion who will help him.” Genesis 2:18 NLT. The Bible says “God sets the solitary in families.” Psalm 68:6 NIV. Solomon wisely realized, “two are better than one” (Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 NIV) – for productivity, in adversity, during lonely times, and facing conflict.
And God’s Word says “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another . .” Hebrews 10:24-25 NKJV. That instruction just cannot be obeyed without meaningful interaction with others on some regular and committed basis. The best place on earth for you to be – the best group with which to be identified – the best people with which to share and entrust your self is the church.
Church is not a place where you go, nor a religious thing that you do; the church is people – people with whom you belong. And to belong, you have to seek times to be together. Being together, you are stronger and so is everyone else.
What do you miss most when you feel alone? Home! And that’s not a house or address, but where you first and most belong, with your family around you to love and care for you. That’s what a church is, a family to love and care for one another by living out their relationship with God in practical and personal ways. Never forget or forsake where you truly belong, and there you will always be surrounded with love and fellowship.
My prayer for you today is to value the lifestyle of sharing real life with others.