Fellows in a Ship
- Now Think On This
by Steve
Martin
Driving
down the highway on that Sunday morning, enroute to my wife’s Mom’s house in
Illinois, I knew I was missing something. Then I realized it was the time of
worship and gathering together with friends that we wouldn’t be involved with
that morning.
Vacations
(or holidays as my Brit and Canadian friends would say) are important – to take
a break from the routine, day to day norm, and do something else for a short
time. It can be very similar to a short sabbatical, when some rest and
re-energizing takes place. Then once over, you are ready to get back into the
thick of it.
But there
are some things we have been encouraged not to do, especially on a long term basis
– forsaking the assembly with the Lord’s people.
Occasionally
Laurie and I will miss the weekly gathering we have done all of our lives, in
obedience to the Word of God. We have taken the time, the effort and the
commitment to worship together on a regular basis with family and friends who
share our common beliefs and goals. We had raised our four children to do the
same, hoping that in their adult lives they too would value the importance of
having a committed church life.
I
appreciate the TV ministers, as I have my favorites that I record and watch as
I can. But they cannot replace those one on one relationships we have with
those in the church fellowship we are members of.
The writer of Hebrews, inspired by the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh), strongly encouraged the believers to avoid not worshiping together. Some had already begun to do so in the early church days, even making it a habit, as the eternal words are translated in the New American Standard Bible version, “…not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some.” (Hebrews 10:25) He went on to say that even as the last days draw nearer, even more so would the importance of fellowship be important, not the opposite as some would believe.
Knowing of those who have dropped out, quit the church, or now have little or no fellowship with believers in a regular, gathered together assembly, I have seen their spiritual and then natural foundations weakened, causing them to waver in their stance for what is good and truthful. They have fallen by the wayside, deceived by the deception that having koinonia, the gathering together for a common purpose, is no longer worth the time and effort it takes. They are not only sorely missed, but have hurt their own spiritual lives and place in the Body of Christ they were called to fill.
As a young believer, one pastor gave us a simple illustration of fellowship. “It is two fellows in a ship.” Yes, real simple, but the Lord didn’t make the full Gospel complicated. It is His purpose and plans that we have fellowship with one another, in order to encourage, help out, and give to each other that which He has imparted to each of us to share.
If you are in a good fellowship situation, guard the temptations that will come at times, to quit and leave. If you are not with a committed group of believers, meeting on a regular basis, I strongly encourage you to not give up seeking one. The input they will give you, and your presence in their midst will build up the walls of protection and increase the shared love we will so desperately need in these last days.
If you are not in a ship, get in one, and do what it will take to remain in it, as the turbulent times are going to increase even more so in our lifetime.
Now think
on this,
Steve Martin
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Now Think On This #160 - “Fellows In A
Ship” by Steve Martin
Date: In the year of our Lord 2014 (06.30.14)
Monday at 9:30 am in Peru, IL.
All previous editions of Now Think On This can be found on this
Blog, and on our newest website: Now Think On This
