Together

David Mathis (Habits of Grace):

We were made for more than private devotions. As nice as it can be to tuck ourselves away in some nook and cranny, all by our lonesome, and read the Scriptures we want to read, pray the prayers we prefer, play the songs we like, memorize the verses we pick, and fast from food when it’s convenient— as important as it is to pursue a regular rhythm of “private worship” in these personal disciplines— this is not the pinnacle of our Christian lives.

We were made to worship Jesus together. Among the multitude. With the great horde. Swallowed up in the magnificent mass of the redeemed. God didn’t fashion us to enjoy him finally as solitary individuals , but as happy members of a countlessly large family.

When the fog of everyday life clears and we catch a glimpse of heaven’s bliss, we don’t find ourselves sequestered at a study desk or hidden alone in a prayer closet in paradise, or even standing alone before the great Grand Canyon or mountain peak of God’s majesty, but joyfully part of the worshiping throng of Christ’s people from every tongue and tribe and nation. We were made for corporate worship.

Corporate worship is a means of grace not when we’re caught up with what we’re doing, but when we experience the secret of worship— the joy of self-forgetfulness— as we become preoccupied together with Jesus and his manifold perfections.