Mind blowing, Eye-opening Words of Life

 

In my quiet time this morning, I literally had my mind blown!

And, in my opinion, mind blowing experiences coming from the Word of God need to be shared. It’s not enough to learn a great truth from Scripture and just keep it to yourself.

Okay, so I am no scholar or studied theologian, and maybe what I’m about to share is something you’ve already discovered, but for those who haven’t and are eager to learn something new, then keep reading!

I am currently studying through the book of Leviticus. Why? Because it’s not a book I have ever enjoyed or fully understood the significance of and one of my goals this year is to read the more obscure and less read books of the Bible and see what I can learn from them.

With all the talk of sacrifices and burnt offerings, my study took me to a passage in Hebrews 13.

Hebrews 13:15,16 KJV - By him therefore let us offer the sacrifice of praise to God continually, that is, the fruit of our lips giving thanks to his name. But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

A few years back, I wrote an article on the first part of verse 15. (read it here Don't wait until you're happy)

It made sense to me that often praising God can feel like a sacrifice, because we just don’t ‘feel’ like praising God in the moment. We have to make a choice to offer up worship and praise to God. It costs us. We have to push aside our fears and our anxieties and sacrifice the feelings of dread and sadness we harbour and choose to put on a cloak of thankfulness and raise our hearts in worship to the only one worthy of our praise.

”The secret of joy is not to wait until you feel happy, but to rise, by an act of faith, out of the depression which is dragging you down and begin to praise God as an act of choice.” A.B.Simpson

As I read down further in the passage, I came across another sacrifice. In verse 16, we are told to do good and not to forget to communicate, because God is well pleased with these sacrifices.

Now, what blew my mind, you ask?

I decided to look up the word communicate. It means talk, right? WRONG!

This word in the Greek is the word koinonia. Does that ring any bells for you? This beautiful word koinonia is the word for fellowship.

(if you would like to read deeper into this topic, take a look at this post True Christian fellowship)

So, when this verse says that we need to do good, it also says that we need to not forget to fellowship. And it says that it is a sacrifice!

Hebrews 13:16 But to do good and to communicate forget not: for with such sacrifices God is well pleased.

Fellowship is often a sacrifice!

MIND BLOWN!

Yes, at times, fellowship can be a sacrifice. There are times when we just don’t feel like fellowshipping with others. We don’t feel like going to church. We’re just not up to making the effort.

True Christian fellowship involves getting together for spiritual purposes, for sharing needs, for prayer, for discussing and sharing the Word, for encouraging, for comforting and for edifying one another. (Read Acts chapter 2)

As Christians and fellow believers, we are in a partnership working together towards a common goal, that of reaching the lost with the gospel. We are to be a family. Looking out for one another, caring for one another, exhorting, serving, loving one another.

And sometimes, it all just feels too hard. We continually have to make a sacrifice to fellowship. We have to set aside our wants, our needs, our time, our desires in order that we can fulfill the law of Christ to love one another and encourage one another.

Fellowship requires participation. It requires our time, our energy and our resources. Each person bringing to the table what God has enabled them to do.

We are to pray together, to suffer together, to share together. Everyone carrying the load together by doing their specific jobs in order to get the gospel message of Jesus Christ out to the lost world.

When I read this with understanding this morning, I had an A-HA moment, but also an OUCH! moment.

I realised why sometimes fellowship felt hard. It often feels hard because I am making a sacrifice to engage in it. But I also realised that I am often guilty of putting it on the back burner purely based on how I feel. It really doesn’t matter how I feel. I am commanded to do it. I am commanded to not neglect or forget it. Why? Because God is well pleased!

Our goal in life as believers, should be to please God and bring honour to him. And one of the ways we please him is by praising him when we don’t feel like it, but just as important is making the effort to fellowship when we don’t feel like it.

Whatever that looks like to you, whether in a church setting, or in the home, or at a coffee shop, meeting together with God’s people with the view of encouraging and sharing and loving should be paramount!

Maybe my mind gets blown easily by little things, but this verse really jumped out at me the moment I realised that it was talking about doing good to others and fellowshipping and that these things could be a sacrifice at times, but we are not to neglect them.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is my interpretation of it, and it’s given me something to think about and also a new perspective on this subject.

Just a short thought this morning, but I pray that you will be encouraged to make the effort to pursue Christian fellowship as a sacrifice to God.