"And We Esteemed Him Not"

During a recent Sunday evening service, Pastor Bickelhaupt asked what it was that is so important as to keep church members from attending church when they know the doors are open and services are being held. He went on to say that people willfully reject the prospect of meeting with Christ Himself (as His presence is promised when the church meets together in His name). Jesus promises in Matthew 18:20, “For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”  Pastor implied that there are too many professing Christians who find it preferable to attend the weekly Sunday morning worship hour, but find gracing the church building outside of that service to be merely optional, an inconvenience, or just not that important.  

It got me thinking. What could possibly be more important than meeting with the Savior?! Here is Someone Who gave everything for us. He literally sacrificed a heavenly abode for an earthly bed mat, for scripture reveals that He had no place to lay His head. He was despised and rejected by His own people. He endured temptations like no man before Him ever had or after Him ever will. He was wounded for our transgressions. Ultimately, Christ died for us because of His deep love for mankind. Yet, many today are like those in Isaiah’s day–claiming to be God’s people, but rejecting His presence because they “esteem Him not.”

Many Christians claim to want the Holy Spirit’s filling in their lives, but words are cheap and their actions reveal their reality. That reality is that they simply do not care to be in Christ’s promised presence, because they esteem Him not. According to Strong’s Concordance, that word esteem means “to regard,” or “to highly think upon.” They think more highly of the Sunday night football television broadcast, their kids’ Wednesday evening high school athletic practices and games, spending time with friends or family, or perhaps they think more highly of the convenience of staying home or completing tasks around the house. Whatever the reason–except for health-related or mandatory work-related circumstances–forsaking the assembling together of the church comes down to an esteem issue. It comes down to not regarding Christ as we should. What a shame. Christ esteemed lost man so highly that He willingly suffered for him, but those who claim to be His reject Him by esteeming Him not. 

Christian, get a fresh glimpse of Christ. Rediscover His love for you. There may be no greater passage to reflect upon this concept than Isaiah 53. Read it below. He desires to meet with us. When we esteem Him like we should, we, too will want to meet with Him… more often than once in a while. We will want to meet with Him as often as the church doors are open and more! Esteem Him! □

ISAIAH 53: "Who hath believed our report? and to whom is the arm of the LORD revealed? For he shall grow up before him as a tender plant, and as a root out of a dry ground: he hath no form nor comeliness; and when we shall see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. He is despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief: and we hid as it were our faces from him; he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned every one to his own way; and the LORD hath laid on him the iniquity of us all. He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth: he is brought as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before her shearers is dumb, so he openeth not his mouth. He was taken from prison and from judgment: and who shall declare his generation? for he was cut off out of the land of the living: for the transgression of my people was he stricken. And he made his grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death; because he had done no violence, neither was any deceit in his mouth. Yet it pleased the LORD to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the LORD shall prosper in his hand. He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities. Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors."