Catechism--3rd Commandment--Remember the Sabbath Day by keeping it holy. What does this mean? We should fear and love God so that we do not despise preaching and His Word, but hold it sacred, and gladly hear and learn it.
Leviticus 23:3--Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.
Devotion--A theme throughout the Bible is the gathering of God's people regularly. Whether it be in the synagogue, in peoples' homes, or just the usual gatherings for prayer and worship, God makes a point that His people need to be together regularly. They are people who have a common faith, who have a common future, and who need daily encouragement in the walk of life that pertains to that faith.
Yet, for many Christians, the day of gathering can seem to be somewhat optional. We are always on the lookout for something better or more pressing to do (like sleep, or watch football, or go skiing or camping, or the like). We have the tendency to think that our relationship with God is okay, and God won't miss us this week (or the next, or for several months in a row at times).
While the gathering of God's people is important for us as individuals, we also need to ask ourselves one other question. Since God is so insistent on this point, are we gathering together for His benefit, for our benefit, or for someone else's benefit? A simple look at those three options should point us to something rather startling, as we think about it.
Do we gather for God's benefit? We are His whether we are in the gathering, at home, on the lake, in the mountains, or anywhere else on God's green earth. God doesn't need us to be there with His people since God knows us intimately, knows where we are, and knows where our hearts truly are.
Do we gather for our benefit? God has made us His own through our baptism. Do we need to have that faith regularly strengthened? Sure, and the gathering of the saints is one way that God works that in us. But we can get that in other ways outside of the gathering, even if they aren't God's preferred way.
Do we gather for the benefit of others? By this point in the devotion, you've probably thought that this was where we were heading. Truthfully, it's not so much that we gather for God's benefit or for our benefit, but that we do so for the benefit of our fellow believers. They need our presence to speak a word of comfort to them. They need us there for the strengthening of the body (which never takes place individually, but only when we are all together). They need us there because our faith is something we have in common, and we humans need the community of each other in more ways that merely the building up of our faith.
So why is your presence important at the gathering of God's people? Sure, it carries great benefits for you, but it's probably even more vital that you be there for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Our love for God is reflected in great ways by the way we demonstrate that we love our neighbors as ourselves, and we have the great opportunity to do that when we gather with them.
Leviticus 23:3--Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a Sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation. You shall do no work. It is a Sabbath to the LORD in all your dwelling places.
Devotion--A theme throughout the Bible is the gathering of God's people regularly. Whether it be in the synagogue, in peoples' homes, or just the usual gatherings for prayer and worship, God makes a point that His people need to be together regularly. They are people who have a common faith, who have a common future, and who need daily encouragement in the walk of life that pertains to that faith.
Yet, for many Christians, the day of gathering can seem to be somewhat optional. We are always on the lookout for something better or more pressing to do (like sleep, or watch football, or go skiing or camping, or the like). We have the tendency to think that our relationship with God is okay, and God won't miss us this week (or the next, or for several months in a row at times).
While the gathering of God's people is important for us as individuals, we also need to ask ourselves one other question. Since God is so insistent on this point, are we gathering together for His benefit, for our benefit, or for someone else's benefit? A simple look at those three options should point us to something rather startling, as we think about it.
Do we gather for God's benefit? We are His whether we are in the gathering, at home, on the lake, in the mountains, or anywhere else on God's green earth. God doesn't need us to be there with His people since God knows us intimately, knows where we are, and knows where our hearts truly are.
Do we gather for our benefit? God has made us His own through our baptism. Do we need to have that faith regularly strengthened? Sure, and the gathering of the saints is one way that God works that in us. But we can get that in other ways outside of the gathering, even if they aren't God's preferred way.
Do we gather for the benefit of others? By this point in the devotion, you've probably thought that this was where we were heading. Truthfully, it's not so much that we gather for God's benefit or for our benefit, but that we do so for the benefit of our fellow believers. They need our presence to speak a word of comfort to them. They need us there for the strengthening of the body (which never takes place individually, but only when we are all together). They need us there because our faith is something we have in common, and we humans need the community of each other in more ways that merely the building up of our faith.
So why is your presence important at the gathering of God's people? Sure, it carries great benefits for you, but it's probably even more vital that you be there for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Our love for God is reflected in great ways by the way we demonstrate that we love our neighbors as ourselves, and we have the great opportunity to do that when we gather with them.
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