I have met Christians who have said that they have on occasions, “taken a break from church because it got too much for them.”
I don’t know about you, but going to church has always restored my soul. I love my brethren and ever draw strength from their faith and good works.
Realistically, it is in the presence of our brethren and our God that our souls are properly restored. Together in praise and worship we acknowledge the supremacy of Christ and our unique place in his creation. We too cry out:
“O Lord, you are worthy to receive the glory and the honour and the power, for you have created all things. They were created and called into being by your act of will” (Revelation 4:11TLB).
However, some have even been heard to ask, “Restored from what?” This question shows that the questioner doesn’t know that Satan has tricked them into thinking that their current state of mind is all there is to Walking in the Spirit. They do not understand that a Christian who doesn’t feel the constant pulling and pushing of the devil upon their spirit is but a bystander in the war for the soul.
Satan has always employed those who refuse to believe to parade their scepticism before anyone who might share their self-imposed blindness. Though they protest otherwise, their atheism is but a pseudo-religion that drains the soul of any sense of joy and hope. It is only Jesus who can restore joy and hope.
If Jesus walked the streets of our towns today, would he see anything different from what went on 2000 years ago? Matthew may as well have been describing today when he wrote:
Seeing the people, He felt compassion for them, because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Therefore beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest” (Matthew 9:36-38).
John Staiger