Day 57 – Issue 40

Be Still Know

Hebrews 10.24-25 NLT

‘Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near.’

The New Testament has no understanding of a lone Christian, who heroically keeps going by themselves. Time and again we are reminded that we have responsibilities for one another, and here the writer uses very striking language. The Greek literally means that we should try to provoke one another to do acts of love and good works. That is to say, we should look for imaginative ways of stimulating one another to live for God. It won’t just happen. We need to love one another so much that we will take responsibility for encouraging one another to live out the Christian life. And that encouragement will only take place if we meet together and so he stresses the importance of not neglecting the times of meeting. When the Christians had gone through a time of suffering they had spent much time together and their fellowship was strong. But now times had got easier and they had become more casual in their approach. The writer is desperately concerned that this could deeply damage the life of the church.

Our circumstances are very different but the same principles hold good. We need one another! The pandemic of the last couple of years has challenged our normal patterns of meeting together like never before. But it has been wonderful to see the way in which Christians have been determined to meet. We have found amazing new ways of meeting together online and I know that many meetings, and particularly prayer meetings, are stronger now than they were before the pandemic. I have been especially glad to see the way in which the increasing number of services and meetings online has blessed many house-bound people. People who were previously unable to find any Christian fellowship have now been embraced and that should make us all rejoice. 

Fellowship isn’t optional. We need one another and need to put effort into keeping one another strong in faith.

Question: In what ways do you seek to provoke other Christians to love and good works?

Prayer: Loving Father, thank you for my Christian brothers and sisters and for all the ways in which we can encourage one another to live for you. Amen

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