Verse of the week

'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.' Hebrews 10:25

God does not bring people to follow Christ singly, but together; he does not save individuals but rather a people. If you are a Christian, you are part of God's family; and families (should!) meet together, look out for one another, encourage one another. The Christian life is hard enough as it is; if we neglect the help God offers us through the church, through other Christians, then it will be harder still.
And so the writer to the Hebrews urges his readers, and us today, not to give up meeting together, not to give up gathering together as Christians. Some people, he says, have stopped bothering with church - don't follow them. Back in chapter 6 we're told of Christians who fell away, who stopped trusting in Christ; it's most likely that these were the same people as had given up meeting with other Christians. The Bible consistently urges us not to think we can get by without other Christians.
Why? Because we need encouragement. That's part of what meeting Christians is for. Sometimes we're finding following Christ really hard, and need encouraging. Sometimes we have seen God work in our lives, and that's an encouragement for others. We are all to encourage, and to expect to be encouraged, by our Christian family.
What should we say to encourage people? 'You see the Day approaching'. Every day that passes is a day closer to the Day when Jesus returns, saves his people from judgement and brings us into his perfect recreated world. That is a Day worth looking forward to; that is a Day which encourages us as we look forward to it. And so that is the Day we should remind our Christian friends of, because if we keep looking forward to that Day then we will keep going on as Christians on this day.
So, when was the last time you encouraged a fellow Christian? Are you the kind of person who makes church and meetings midweek a priority as much as you can, and goes to church or youth group or whatever thinking 'I want to encourage someone this evening. I want to look out for who's struggling a bit. I want to remind them that one day Jesus will return and they'll see him and live with him forever.' Wouldn't it be great if we all encouraged each other in that way, as this verse teaches us to do?