HEBREWS 10:24-25

And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the day approaching.

TO PONDER

Life is hard. I mean, don't get me wrong, there are plenty of good things that happen in life and it can be filled with fun and good times too, but every day there are choices to make, things to do, obligations to meet, goals to achieve. How do you fit it all in?

I've noticed, particularly since covid, that many people have prioritised 'family time'. Now again, don't get me wrong, prioritising family time is a great idea but the challenge for us is to not prioritise our family time over God's family time.

What seems to be happening now that life is picking up pace after Covid, people want to maintain a bit more space and time in their lives and they are finding it by ditching church. And you often hear excuses like, "Well you don't have to go to church to be a Christian", or "My faith is just something between me and God anyway and I can watch all sorts of preaching on line these days anyway." These people are not technically wrong, but they are missing something. Who is encouraging them? Who is supporting them? Who is asking them the tough questions when they are tempted to further compromise their faith, when faced with the pressures that the world consistently throws at us?

Don't be tempted to give up your church community for 'extra time'. Make it part of your family time, integrate church and faith time into fun family activities. Incorporate it into your social time and invite some of your church family toning out with your work friends. Let's not see 'church' as an extra thing, but as the central thing that supports and encourages us in the other spheres of our lives.

PRAYER: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gift of being part of your family. Help me not to turn my back on the gift of my church family in preference for other things. Help me to be an encouraging and supportive member of my church both among its members and among the community you have given us to serve. Amen

Today's devotion written by Mathew von Stanke, LifeWay Newcastle