If you have ever considered why we gather together on Sundays or Tuesdays or Fridays as a church body, one good reason and a really good metric is Hebrews 10:24,25 which says: “Let us consider how to STIMULATE one another to LOVE and GOOD DEEDS, not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but ENCOURAGING one another; and ALL THE MORE as you see the day of the Lord drawing near.”
It’s a good reminder that we are not meant to be just “consumers” when we come to the church or midweek meetings. But every one of us has the responsibility and the gift to encourage another and stimulate another to love and good deeds through the prophetic testimony of what God has done or spoken through our own life during that week. As this verse says, may we spend our week “considering” how we can do this.
But even more than the midweek or church meetings, I have daily opportunities to stimulate another to love and good deeds and to encourage another. For me personally, it is my wife and my children; for others it could be a roommate, someone at work, or a casual encounter with another brother or sister. Assembling together (as mentioned in Hebrews 10:25) could then just as easily be our family devotion time, the dinner table, a planned or unplanned meeting with another brother or sister, or even a bedtime conversation with my spouse.
But there is one other “accidental” assembly that I have often neglected and overlooked and have certainly forsaken many times. That is the unplanned “interruption” of my schedule - most often by one of my children - but very well by a spouse or a text message from a brother or anyone else that might disrupt what I am doing at that moment. After reading the example of Jesus, I have been convicted to be always led and “scheduled” by the Holy Spirit and not by my own planned “schedule” so that I might be a blessing to others and to have a perfectly interruptible life.
Here are some AMAZING examples of Jesus’ willingness to be interrupted and the eternal blessing that was received by not just the people who interrupted him but by us who get to read about it 2000 years later:
The Feeding of the Five Thousand (Matthew 14)
We all know this story so no need to recap. But what we may not know is how this story started. It starts with Jesus hearing about the gruesome death of John the Baptist (one of his childhood best friends and one whom I’m sure he was close to in spirit). Jesus was so grieved (Matthew 14:13), that he wanted to be by himself in a secluded place. Until this point in his life, this might very well have been one of the worst days of his life. Have you ever had a day like that - where you just wanted to be left alone and not be bothered by anyone? Yet, we know what happens next. The people heard about this and followed him. They were physically and spiritually hungry and Jesus chose to welcome this interruption on his worst day and miraculously fed them and met their need.
Not just that, when the disciples decided to participate in this blessing of others and not think about their own tiredness or needs, they were able to gather up a basket full for each of themselves (twelve total). Some might think of these as leftovers, but they were actually a large picnic basket worth of the blessing while everyone else present just received a personal share.
I wonder how I might have reacted if someone disrupted or interrupted me on a day when I just wanted to be by myself and what blessing both they and I might have missed out on if I chose to be ruled by my feelings and not the Holy Spirit.
The Feeding of the Four Thousand (Matthew 15)
We know from many instances that Jesus chose to go up to the mountain to be alone with God as his personal “quiet time”. Just a chapter later, we read in Matthew 15:29, that Jesus chose to go up the mountain once more and sit alone - quite likely to pray and be with God. Once again large crowds interrupted his “quiet time” and verse 30-32 says he embraced that interruption to heal them and have compassion on them. He sensed their physical and spiritual hunger and he chose to bless them once more by feeding them.
Once again, the disciples who chose toparticipate and not think of their own interests had baskets full of blessings afterward.
The Sermon on the Mount
Matthew 5:1 says that when Jesus saw the crowds (after he had already healed many - Matthew 4:24,25), he decided to go away from them up the mountain. I once again imagine, he chose to be alone with God as was his “routine”. Instead, this time the crowds didn’t follow and interrupt Him, but the disciples did. What followed was the greatest and most prophetic sermon ever preached that was meant specifically for his disciples (and not the crowds). One side note here - I’m blessed by the heart of a disciple that chooses not to be content with earthly blessings of food and healing and material blessing (Matt 4:24,25) but chooses to follow Jesus up the mountain (Matt 5:1) even if it is a difficult “hike” for something more - a spiritual blessing and nourishment and most importantly - just to be with Jesus.
It’s fascinating to imagine that the Sermon on the Mount may not have ever been preached if a) the disciples didn’t follow Jesus up that mountain and b) Jesus chose to send them away on the pretext of a quiet time with God. Instead He chose willingly to be INTERRUPTED.
Conclusion
When I encounter an interruption to my schedule - to my work, to my quiet time, to my school, to my workout, to my reading time, to my cooking, to my rest, to my sleep - may I choose to see it as an opportunity to encourage and bless and may I discern the “hunger” in another (very often my littlest children) that is driving that interruption. May I see it as an opportunity to NOT forsake an “assembling” together of just the 2 (or 3 or 4) and instead use it as an opportunity to encourage and stimulate love and good deeds. May I see it as an amazing investment to reap a basketful of eternal blessing both in my children, my spouse and myself - if I am willing to deny myself and yield myself to the Holy Spirit to perceive their need.
Proverbs 11:25 - The (spiritually) generous man (generous with his time) will be (spiritually) prosperous; and he who waters (others) will himself be watered