Reflection on Heb 10:25
Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing,
but let us exhort one another – and all the more as you see the Day approaching.
This verse is preceded by the words: “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 towards love and good deeds.” The groups meeting together at the time when the Apostle was writing this letter were probably as small as ours. However, these words applied and still apply above all to small prayer groups, which have carried the burden of the Church and called on God for light, strength and salvation.
We perceive that the biblical demand for koinonia, the formation of brotherly fellowship, is very relevant today. A group of Christian men meet together for prayer and pray to God for themselves and for the souls entrusted to them. At the same time, they seek to encourage one another to remain faithful to Christ and to the commandments He has given us in the midst of this world, despite the various pressures. Christ’s commands are not burdensome, though in certain circumstances they may require great sacrifice. But then the reward in heaven is all the greater if we persevere.
The Apostle had to encourage and exhort, “Let us not give up meeting together…” This is because the tendency of our human nature is not to put the kingdom of God first, but often last. Then this vice becomes a habit, as the Apostle says, “as some are in the habit of doing,” and the necessary order is hardly restored. Thus, renewal and initial zeal must always be sought, because it is on prayer groups that fellowship is built, which is the pillar of the living Church. Without it, the Church becomes only a kind of external structure, an organization where people only formally meet the minimum requirements and have no personal relationship with Christ and no responsibility for their souls and the souls entrusted to them.
As for the requirement, “let us exhort one another”, no one likes exhortation, it is painful. But one must be able to admit one’s guilt before God and before the community. Only in this way can correction take place and one can get out of the rut of indifference and back on the path of zeal for the salvation of one’s soul and others.
As for the Day of the Lord, it had not yet come for mankind then, and that was 2000 years ago. But for each of us, it can come when we least expect it. Either a car accident, a heart attack, a stroke, an injury, or some catastrophe. So let us be ready, the Day of the Lord may come for us today.
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