by Stan Mitchell

"I rejoiced with those who said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord'" (Psalm 122:1).

A student at Oxford University began to tire of the boring lectures and hard work required to attain a degree, so he stopped attending class. Soon he had missed an entire term. The professor decided to contact the backsliding scholar and approached his dorm room. There the young man was, at two in the afternoon, asleep on his bed. Driven to indignation by the sight of the slovenly boy, the professor declared:

"You have hissed all my mystery lectures. You have tasted a whole worm. Please leave Oxford on the next town drain!"

I'm sure the professor felt much better after getting that off his chest!

Even in a day of the Internet and virtual reality, it still helps to attend class if one wants to learn his history lessons! Absentee parents should be a contradiction in terms, and perhaps you have noticed that turning up at work helps one's employment status enormously. Being present at Bible class and worship services also helps the Christian grow. You cannot treat beloved brothers and sisters in Christ with compassion and caring unless you see them. You cannot foster a relationship with a God you do not encounter on a regular basis. You cannot learn his will without frequently opening his word and studying it.

Conversely, I cannot imagine the most spiritual and Christ-like element of a congregation being those who habitually miss worship. Sorry. I just don't think it happens.

The result of habitual truancy is that our love for God is drained, the Bible becomes a mystery to us and our taste for spiritual things is diminished. God's will has to be, well, spoon-fed to us! And what I'm worried about most is that those who fail to attend might miss more than a "term"!