I was baptised some 24 years ago. Since that time I have, by God's grace, gone to church on the first day of nearly every week, both in the morning and in the evening. I have on rare occasions been kept away by illness or baby sitting duties and at one low point (notably when I was a theological student!) I simply skipped the evening meeting.
Why do I do it?
- I do it because God has commanded believers not to give up meeting together with each other hut to do it all the more as Christ's return approaches.
- I do it because I recognise the Lord's Day as what the Puritans called the 'market day of the soul' - a God given opportunity to spend time under God's Word and with God's people. I want something for my soul.
- I do it because I know, whether I am preaching or not, I can encourage others simply by being there.
Can you be a Christian if you do not go to church? As a teenager it was the tradition in my home church for the young people to go carol singing at Christmas to the homes of elderly members who were not able to get to the regular meetings of the church. I remember, in my youthful arrogance, wondering if these elderly ladies really could be believers if they were unable to summon up the strength to be with us on the Lord's Day. The fact is, however, that there are many of God's people who would dearly love to be with the Lord's people on the Lord's Day, but they no longer can. A number of those reading these words may now be in that very position.
Sometimes people die suddenly. Rarely, we hear of someone dying in church. Perhaps you have been present when it has happened. Much more often, people get ill, they worsen, they are confined to bed and eventually they die. For most Christians there are, at the end of their lives, weeks, months, sometimes years in which they are simply not able to come to church or can only come once on the Lord's Day or only infrequently. For all of us there may be periods when, for various reasons, we are not able to meet regularly with the people of God on the Lord's Day. We all need to reckon with this distinct possibility before it happens.
What can we do to prepare for such an eventuality? Here are some suggestions:
- Make the most of every present opportunity to meet with God's people
- Be thankful for those opportunities, whatever the temptation to think otherwise. Do not take such opportunities for granted.
- Work hard at your own personal walk with God. Daily prayer and study of the Word are vital. Meeting with God's people on the Lord's Day is there for us, to help us - may be for a life-time, may be for a shorter period. If we lose this privilege for any reason, in God's providence, we must still walk with the Lord and serve him.
- Look forward to and think often of heaven and the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Then we will gather at his feet - and not one will be missing.
- Bear in mind the many who do not have your privileges. Not only are there the sick who, in some cases, can never be present, but also many who are kept away regularly by legitimate duties. Pray that God will make it up to them in other ways.
