When I was growing up, I was privileged to have a family who always went to church. I don’t mean every Sunday but nearly every time the doors were open. Now, I’m not going to say that everybody ought to attend everything there is to do at the church—there is a lot to get involved in—but I will say that we ought to have a habit of going to church regularly. If we truly want to have “more Jesus” and “less me” in our lives, we need to consider Jesus’ example.
In Luke 4:16, we read that Jesus had a habit of going to church: “He went to Nazareth, where he had been brought up, and on the Sabbath day he went into the synagogue, as was his custom. And he stood up to read.” We can learn several things from this event.
First, Jesus likely considered the synagogue to be “home.” When Jesus returned to his hometown, he knew that this was the place to be, especially if he wanted to announce that he was going to become a preacher and not the carpenter everyone likely expected him to be. Second, this is likely the place where Jesus learned the Scriptures that he used to battle Satan’s temptation in the wilderness—who better to hear first the announcement that Jesus would be preaching God’s Word than the people who likely taught him God’s Word? Last, we can see that not only did Jesus go to church, but he participated as well.
I know how busy life can be, especially with kids. However, if we want to be more like Jesus, we need to make sure that we put the proper emphasis on being among God’s people. Hebrews 10:25 tells us that we shouldn’t give up on meeting together but that we should encourage each other. Let’s continue to meet together, at least to worship our Father God, every week. Let’s make sure that our children develop the habit of meeting together so that they may also, when they face temptation, be able to defeat Satan with the Scriptures they learn here. Let us also be regular in our service, participating in God’s work and encouraging each other.