You.

Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful, and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. 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 ten, verses 23 through 25 all of the commentaries I have ever read on this passage state that the writer of Hebrews is here advocating the importance of gathering with other believers for worship on the first day of the week. This was the practice of the early christians, according to acts 20, verse seven. But apparently by the time the book of Hebrews was written, some christians had begun to skip church, as we might say today. And it is that bad habit that the writer of Hebrews addresses in this passage. We would be wise to note that one reason why meeting together is in fact so important is that it encourages and motivates other believers not only to hold firmly to their hope in Christ, but to love each other and to seek opportunities to do good deeds. It's not that people can't do these things without the encouragement of others. It's just that in most cases, people won't do them without it. In any case, meeting with fellow christians is a good thing and a right thing to do. Let me share some interesting statistics with you. Of all the deaths recorded in the United States each year, 20% occur in automobiles, 17% occur at home 16% occur on airplanes, trains, and boats 14% occur while running or walking, and 32% occur in hospitals or other healthcare facilities. Of the remaining 1% of all deaths in the United States each year, less than 1000% occur in church. And those that do occur while in church are almost always related to preexisting physical disorders. What this means is that just about the safest place that you can be at any given point in time is in church. So for your own safety and well being, go to church this week, won't you? It could save your life.

This has been your thought for the day with Steve Burkham, pastor of Community Christian Church in Stockton, California. If you have questions or comments for Pastor Steve, please send them to [email protected]. Have a great day, and we hope you'll join us tomorrow as pastor Steve open God's word to bring us another thought for the day.