Let us hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us be concerned about one another in order to promote love and good works, not staying away from our worship meetings, as some habitually do, but encouraging each other, and all the more as you see the day drawing near.     Hebrews 10:24-25 HCSB

I always say Christianity is not for sissies. God calls us to do the hard stuff. We are not called to flit around and do our own thing and be who we want to be. We are called to be what He needs us to be. We are called to do what He has gifted us to do. We are called to love and serve Him and others.

I would like to spend the next few days talking about some things we should do if we have resolved to follow Christ. Our Scripture passage tells us to hold on to the confession of our hope without wavering. It’s easy to be a Christian and get it right when all is going our way. When things take a turn for the worst, however, we often lose hope. We lose our faith. We may become fearful or angry.

If you are going to follow Christ, you must trust He is working this out for your good (Romans 8:28). You must rejoice and know that these trials and your proper response to them is what matures you as a Christian. It’s the water that helps the seed of Christianity grow inside you. It makes you a mature Christian.

And in whatever trials we face we can rest assured He is right there with us. He may not bring us around or over the trials, but He will be there to walk us through them. He tells us this in Isaiah 43:2, “I will be with you when you pass through the waters, and when you pass through the rivers, they will not overwhelm you. You will not be scorched when you walk through the fire, and the flame will not burn you.” We must stand strong through trials and tribulations that come our way. We can rely on God’s strength to do this, as we are told in Philippians 4:13 which says, “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.”

Our next verse in our Scripture passage deals with church attendance. It’s not always easy or enjoyable to get up early on Sunday morning, get dressed and get to church on time. Of course, we’d rather sleep in or catch up on chores we were unable to do during the week. I get it. I used to be the same way.

However, as I forced myself to go, I realized I felt so much better that day and throughout the week. I had a renewed strength to face whatever came my way. And often times it was as if the sermon had been preached just for me. It spoke directly to what I was experiencing. We are not to neglect going to church.

Many people say they can worship God anywhere, but how many times do you bring your Bible with you and pray and praise Him and study your Bible when you are in your boat or in your deer stand or at the beach or a ball game?

Church is not optional, we are clearly told in Hebrews 10:25 not to avoid worship meetings as many do. Go to church. Again, if you are going to follow Christ, you are going to be called to do the hard stuff. You are going to be called to inconvenience yourself at times.

I understand that you may not have time, or want to, or feel like going to church but think about Jesus. He didn’t want to hang on that cross to save us from our sins, but He did it so we could be saved and spend eternity in heaven. He did it so His blood could wash away our sins. Is it really too much for you to devote a few hours a week to praising and worshipping Him?

Have a great day!