Day Twelve
As a Church Family we have embarked on a 40-day quest to intentionally grow our faith, to take stock of our supply and lean into God to multiply and increase what we have. We are examining the things that are faith stealers, which can deplete the supply we have, and create a deficit in us. Yesterday we looked at guilt and its consequence, shame. Today I want us to look at Isolation
This year because of the onslaught of the COVID-19 Pandemic, all have had to actively fight feelings of isolation and disconnection, yet for so many it has only served to heighten and intensify something they were already battling with. There is a great reason God chose families as the building blocks of a healthy physical society, with physical intimacy causing a joyous multiplication and therefore preservation of that unit. In the same way God created the church, His spiritual family that He adopted us into so that when we come together in connection and corporate worship, not only does it produce joy, but it also brings a multiplication of our faith. I firmly believe that this year the enemy has tried, through isolation, to break the bonds that tie God’s Body together. He’s done this by shutting churches, causing fear and anxiety, and getting people out of the habit of meeting together. This is because he if afraid of and knows the power of life giving multiplication that takes place when we come together. For this reason the writer to the Hebrews pens this exhortation:
Let us hold resolutely to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to spur one another on to love and good deeds. Let us not neglect meeting together, as some have made a habit, but let us encourage one another, and all the more as you see the Day approaching. Hebrews 10:23-25
The whole book of Hebrews is about the fight to keep people following Jesus.
Christians who choose to stay disconnected from the family of God and don’t meet together are just like a couple that may still love each other but live apart, there can be no new life created, no multiplication, no intimacy, and eventually the love wanes and cannot be maintained.
NB: There are some who are at greater risk of COVID 19 and who need to stay at home for health reasons, but are still staying connected through Zoom Church with Ps Arnold, Ps Annika and Ps Nathan.
I’m not speaking to this group of people but rather those we all know, who for whatever reason have just become comfortable staying home from church; those who go out to eat physically but chose not to eat in person spiritually. Those who have abandoned the practice of meeting together because they don’t fully understand what takes place when they do, and don’t understand that this is stealing their faith.
Today write a list of people who you know used to attend church but have chosen to neglect the habit; people whose faith is shrinking, people who have lost their faith, and begin to pray them back into the kingdom.
Scripture to meditate on: Hebrews chapter 10