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

My earliest memories are of being in church. My mother took me to church every Sunday morning and night and every Wednesday night. She was very active in the church. She was the church clerk, a Sunday School teacher, a choir member, taught VBS and did whatever else was needed. All while working full-time, raising me, running a household and tending to her elderly parents. With all that going on, we never missed church. I tended to backslide as I got a little older. I must have made the devil so happy back then.

You see, the devil does not want us to go to church. He wants us to stay home or go down the river or do anything or go anywhere but to church. He doesn’t want us hearing the truth preached from God’s word. If we do, then we will know the devil is a big fat liar (John 8:44). If we attend church we may do things like love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. We may even begin to love others as we love ourselves (Matthew 22:37-39). We may begin to exhibit the fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23) and the devil doesn’t want that.

The devil wants us to disregard God’s commands. He wants us to walk in the flesh. He wants us to satisfy the desires of the flesh. 1 Peter 5:8 warns us to be aware because the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for  someone to devour. He wants to destroy us. He dangles a little sin in front of us and it looks so good. He tells us that just a little bit won’t hurt. Before you know it, we are consumed. That’s how he works.

With church attendance, the devil is handy with all kinds of excuses. Now some of you may be in jobs where you work on Sunday and you may have no choice. That’s understandable, but then when you do have a Sunday off, the devil will tell you that this is your only Sunday off and you need to do other things. If you try to watch online the devil will distract you. The devil will tell you that you need to catch up on work around the house. He will tell you that you need to go grocery shopping. He will tell you that you deserve a day to just lay around and do nothing. There are all kinds of things he will tell you.

But let’s just say that you resolve to go to church Sunday morning. The devil will start on Saturday trying to keep you out of church. He will convince you to stay up late. He will convince you that you can still make it to church. On Sunday he works really hard. He may cause you to wake up tired. He will cause you to not be able to find something you need like your car keys or a belt or a shoe. He will be sure to mess something up for you. And once you get out the door, there may be traffic issues. If he can make you late, he might be able to convince you not to go at all.

When I committed to going to church every Sunday, I can recall getting up one morning and getting ready for church. I had to take several detours to get to church. I finally told the devil that he wasn’t going to stop me from going to church. He might make me late but I was going today and every Sunday that God gave me the strength and the health to go.

Maybe you’ve been trying to get back in church, but things just keep coming up. See that for what it is. It’s the devil. He doesn’t want you to go to church because he knows you will find peace and joy there. He knows you will get to know Jesus much better and fall deeper in love with him and he just can’t have that. He knows if you are weary, you will find rest and he doesn’t want that.

In John 14:2 Jesus tells us that in His Father’s house are many dwelling places and that He goes to prepare a place for us. Some versions say many mansions. Are you hoping to get to spend eternity in a mansion in heaven, without spending time in God’s house here on earth? Give that some thought.

Tomorrow instead of making excuses, make your way to a good Bible teaching church. You will be glad you did.

Have a great weekend!