24 And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.25 Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another--and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
When we come together as the body of Christ we have an opportunity to see beyond the boundaries of our own life to the bigger picture of life in Christ and what that means. What it means is an inexhaustible kingdom of love that will always provide more to explore and experience.
If our going or not going is only a habit, we are not embracing the full measure of the gift that God so freely offers. We are not fully alive to or in the life of Christ.
Both the church and the body of Christ are diminished when you and I are not present.
Being present encompasses the physical and spiritual. It includes the place we worship and where we live. A life given to Christ includes the whole person: body, soul, mind, and spirit. His light is to shine where we are, not just within our church walls but in the world where we find ourselves.
The time involved is consecutive in nature, not occasionally, but from one moment to the next, from one glory to another.
Coming together is more than taking a seat beside someone else. It is joining our fellow believers in celebration of our awesome God. It is encouraging and loving each other. It is growing in and coming closer to Jesus. It is part of the journey that leads to eternal life. We are given a taste of that eternal life when we come together at the table of Christ.
The phrase “getting it together” really takes place when we come together with each other and with Christ. Love enables this to happen.
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