The Problem of being absent

Again, Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit.  If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came. So, the other disciples told him, “We have seen the Lord!” But he said to them, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” John 20: 21- 25 

Do you ever get FOMO? Fear of missing out…I do. There are times when I miss out on an event or day out and when my friends or family tell me about the amazing time they spent together, I often feel upset and jealous because I missed out on the joys.

I remember when I missed a prayer meeting that the YAFC had because I had lectures, I was so upset the next day because I felt I missed my chance to hear from God.

I want to take you to the book of John and study our brother Thomas. When the disciples gathered together after the resurrection of Christ, Thomas was not amongst them, we don’t know where he was, but scripture tells us he was absent in verse 24, “now Thomas (also known as Didymus), one of the twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came” 

Can you imagine that… place yourself at the scene, Jesus has paid you a visit, but you are absent…what feelings would you have? 

Is it ok, you’ll catch him next time?

Or do you feel you have missed out on something important? 

What did Thomas miss?

Thomas missed an opportunity here to be in the presence of the risen Christ, he missed the opportunity to receive a Trinitarian blessing, look at verse 21, “again, Jesus said, ‘Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’” Jesus blesses them, peace be with you, in fact, when you read verse 19, Jesus tells them, “peace be with you.” He tells them twice; they received a double blessing! 

This is the blessing Thomas missed, and often times, we miss opportunities like this, we forget that we are a link to the chain that God has set, we need to be available to God’s will, don’t miss out. There will be a double blessing for those who meet in the house of God. 

No pandemic should stop you from gathering together in the house of God! Hebrews 10:25 tells us to not give up meeting together as some are in the habit of doing, why? Matthew 18:20, “for where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” If you can’t go to a physical church building, you can have church online. Where God is, that is the house of God. Your presence is needed in the life of the church. You will experience the joy of being, seeing and speaking to the resurrected Christ. When we have fellowship with one another, we are also having fellowship with God. Don’t miss out.

There are often times when we feel moved to attend zoom church or physical church, but we just get lazy and we simply just can’t be bothered, but guys! You will miss out on a word from God, you will miss out on an encounter with God if you stay absent! 

Don’t miss out, be present, don’t be absent.

When you show up willingly, God will speak! And you will also be able to say, I have seen the Lord!

With Love,

Faith / Author (Upfront Faith / I Can't Embrace the Wilderness )