When I make the choice to not assemble with the saints to worship our God together, I am choosing to disregard the commands of my Father in heaven to…“love one another, as I have loved you” (John 13:34-35)…to “esteem others better than” myself and to “look out…for the interests of others” (Phil. 2:3-4)…to “give preference to one another” (Rom. 12:10)…to “greet one another” (Rom. 16:16)… …to “encourage one another and build up one another” (1 Thess. 5:11)…to “wait for one another” (1 Cor. 11:33)…to “speak to one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Eph. 5:19)…to “teach and admonish one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs” (Col. 3:16)…to “consider one another in order to stir up love and good works” (Heb. 10:24)…to “exhort one another” (Heb. 10:25)…to “worship Him in spirit and truth” (John 4:24)…to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together” (Heb. 10:25).
I disregard and disobey every single one of these commands of my God when I choose to willfully absence myself from the assembly. Yes! It’s a big deal! An eternally big deal!