Hebrews 10:24-25 And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, 25 not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
One of the ways we can help our convictions and confession of faith grow stronger is by encouraging one another. The author now exhorts his readers to “stir up one another to love and good works.” Fellowship is crucial to victorious living as followers of Jesus. If we try to be a lone Christian, we are setting ourselves up for failure and overwhelming temptations. There is strength in numbers, even if it is only one other person. Because the coming of Jesus is getting nearer day by day, we must be ready and found faithful to our calling (Ephesians 4:1). The New Testament describes how the end times will be even more difficult for believers because of persecution, false doctrine, and other types of suffering. There are many things in life that can be overwhelming. How can a person make it through these if he or she only goes to “church” once a month or once every other month? We must be vigilant in meeting together because we need each other on this journey of life. Part of the reason people do not meet together often is that they misunderstand what the church is. They may think or at least act like the “church” is the one hour Sunday morning service. If this is going to “church,” then just going once in a while when the battery seems to get low to get an emotional charge and to alleviate any guilt, that is good enough. But the image we see in the New Testament is one of where believers fervently met, prayed together, shared together their needs and their surpluses, lived life together, supported one another, and functioned as one body in Christ. Many modern Jesus believers must rethink what they understand the church to be. As the popular saying goes, the church is not a place but a people who meet regularly and support one another in this journey of life.
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