“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 toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together – as some are in the habit of doing – but let us encourage one another, and all the more, as you see the Day approaching.”
In these verses, the writer to the Hebrews is talking about the value of maintaining our links of fellowship with one another. Fellowship, he says, is about giving each other mutual encouragement, so that those who are doing things tough can be supported by their brothers and sisters in Christ within the Church, while those whose Christian lives are going well can offer support and their resources to others. He notes too that through the mutual encouragement that comes from fellowship, we can help one another to achieve greater levels of both love and action, within the church and towards those outside in the wider community. In today’s unique circumstances, how we do “fellowship” is of necessity very different to what we have been used to in our churches. Let us especially then value the opportunities we have to share fellowship with one another by whatever means are available to us and to use those times wisely to help build each other up so that we all may become more effective in our Lord’s service. Let us all then be team players in the Body of Christ, not solo performers for Jesus!