This topic has been on my heart for a long time. Years, even. Long post…<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I want to start by saying I\u2019m not perfect, and I\u2019m constantly identifying areas in my own life where I can shift my focus more toward God and His will. I do, however, want to encourage folks (even strongly so) to do the same. Put God first. Prioritize church over other stuff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve never in my 45 years of life heard anyone say they regretted having their kids in church. I\u2019ve never heard anyone say they regretted putting God first in their lives. I\u2019ve never heard anyone say, \u201cI wish I played more sports on Sundays,\u201d or \u201cI wish I\u2019d skipped more services to sleep in.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
On the other hand, I\u2019ve heard folks say things like, \u201cI\u2019ve missed so much, I\u2019ve lost my fellowship with Christ. I wish I had made it more of a priority to keep Him first, to be in church with His people.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I also want to say that being in church is not the be-all and end-all of the Christian life. If church is the only place and time you get in your Bible, pray and fellowship with your Creator, your Savior, you\u2019re doing it wrong. But I\u2019ll also say that being in church is a very important part of the Christian life. Hearing the preached Word of God, corporate worship, singing His praises…all of those are important!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hebrews 10:23-25 says:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\n23 Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;)<\/p>\n\n\n\n
24 And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
25 Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ve seen where folks leave the church because they get so caught up in these other things. Those things take priority in their lives. I\u2019ve also seen where folks leave the church because they were brought up in church and never allowed to miss church for these other things. My belief, not knowing the heart, is that in both cases these folks never had a strong relationship with Christ Himself. Are they saved? Maybe. I do not know the heart. But when a person has a strong relationship with Christ, they will *want* to follow Him. They\u2019ll *want* to serve Him. They\u2019ll *want* to be around His people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
How do I know this? Folks may call this anecdotal evidence, but I\u2019ve seen it in my own life. When my relationship with Christ suffers and starts to take a back seat, my desires toward Him and His will also fade. When my *personal relationship* with Him is stronger, these things literally fall into place. The best way I\u2019ve heard this said is that, \u201cHe satisfies, but He also makes you want more.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can\u2019t say it strongly enough \u2013 please don\u2019t let sports, sleep, hobbies and other activities take place of being in church! I promise you\u2019ll never regret it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I\u2019ll leave off with this quote I\u2019ve seen floating around for a while now\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Church should be the reason we miss things…not the other way around.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
This topic has been on my heart for a long time. Years, even. Long post… I want to start by saying I\u2019m not perfect, and I\u2019m constantly identifying areas in my own life where I can shift my focus more toward God and His will. I do, however, want to encourage folks (even strongly so) […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1\/revisions\/8"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jdsnow.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}