Greg Laurie Daily Devotion - July 31, 2012
Too Busy for Church?
I am a companion of all who fear You, and of those who keep Your precepts. - (Psalm 119:63)
I believe that a Christian’s desire for fellowship is, in a way, a barometer of his or her love for God. The more we love God, the more we will love to be in the church, a part of the church, loving the church. The less we love God, the less we will want to be around other Christians.
Some people may say, “Yeah, but I am so over the church. The church is so critical and judgmental. It is so full of hypocrites.”
To them I would say, “Well, then, come on. There is always room for one more.”
I am not excusing hypocrisy. The church has its flaws because it is made up of people like me and people like you. However, Jesus started the church. He loves the church. And He died for the church.
To me, when there is a lack of fellowship with other believers, it is a sure sign that backsliding is about to begin. The Christian life is one of constant growth. We are either moving forward or moving backward. It is progression or regression. There is no standing still. So if you are suddenly withdrawing from church, backing off from your study of the Word of God, and have a pretty much nonexistent prayer life, then you are starting to backslide, whether you want to admit it or not.
You may not be overtly sinning yet, but you are already setting the stage for it. Backsliding always begins with relaxing your grip on that which you need before you take hold of that which will destroy you. So when someone says, “I am just too busy for church,” or “I don’t have time,” or “There are other things,” then that to me is an indication that something is wrong spiritually.
Summary sentence: If you are too busy for church, then there is something wrong within.
Tags: church, believers, hypocrites, backslide
Copyright © 2012 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.
Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
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