Fellowship with God must never become selfish. We must also fellowship with other Christians in the local assembly. Apparently some of the wavering believers of the early church had been absenting themselves from the church fellowship, and the writer of Hebrews urged them to quit their careless ways and not forsake “assembling” (Hebrews 10:25).

It is interesting to note that the emphasis here is not on what a believer gets from the assembly, but rather on what he can contribute to the assembly. Faithfulness in church attendance encourages others and provokes them to love and good works.

One of the strong motives for faithfulness is the soon coming of Jesus Christ. In fact, the only other place the word translated “assembling” is used in the New Testament is in 2 Thessalonians 2:1,
where it’s translated “gathering” and deals with the coming of Christ.

Verse for today: “And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is, but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25).

Also read: 1 John 1:3-7; 1 Thessalonians 3:11-13; 4:9-18.

Action assignment: Search through the passage for today and find at least four guidelines for fellowship in your local assembly.Decide on one practical way you can contribute to your church this week.

WARREN W. WIERSBE
www.backtothebible.in