You’ve packed your bags, loaded the car, and you’re off to your vacation destination.  You have your map, comfortable clothes, your tickets to that favorite event, the golf clubs, your favorite novel, hiking boats, snacks, etc.  You have forwarded all your mail and made sure that work did not know where you were heading.  The three things missing in your luggage are your dress clothes, your Bible, and the address of a sound local church to attend at your destination and along the way.  Why?  Because God is something you do when you’re at home, not when you’re out to have fun.  Is that the attitude a Christian should have?  Would a faithful Christian’s plans ever exclude God?

     (Mark 12:29-30) “And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment.”  How much of your heart, soul, mind, and strength can you say you have given to God when worship to him takes a backseat to vacation plans?  Maybe some brethren do not think along those lines, but they should.  When planning a vacation or other type of a trip, a Christian should be making plans to assemble with saints.  The sinfulness of forsaking the assembling of the saints does not just apply to us just when we are near our local congregation.  Consider the wording of Hebrews 10:25 “Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching.”

    A Christian is bound to serve God whether in Pennsylvania, Hawaii, Florida, or Rome.  If a Christian is making a trip they need to include finding a local church as part of their planning and for that matter this should be the first thing a Christian researches.  Before checking cheaptickets.com you should check a church directory, phone book, and make some calls to see if faithful saints assemble in your desired trip destination.

      How do you show your priorities?  When someone asks you if where you’re heading has a good hotel, you tell them all about it.  You tell them about the shopping nearby, the shows at the local theatre, and even the best places to eat.  You have brochures on all the tourist attractions within seventy-five miles.  You tell them you have spent the last four months planning this trip and you know all there is to do in that area you are heading.  Then the question pops up: where is the closest sound church?  You all of a sudden are lost for words.  You don’t know.  But, you know that the local Red Lobster is 4.36 miles from your hotel and has an approximate drive time of 9.6 minutes.  You know that the World’s Greatest Wild West show has tickets available in seating rows 9J -10b which are just a stone throw from the restrooms and the hot dog stand.  However, you do not know if there is a sound church of Christ within 500 miles.  Where does that show your priorities are?

     Sunday morning comes and you are fumbling through the phone book.  “Yup, there it is.  I knew there was a church of Christ here” (yea right!).  You call - they are meeting at 9:30 AM.  You will show up in your Tuesday’s best (who packs their
Sunday’s best to go to the beach anyway, you have to have your clothes with you that you only wear when you are out of town at the beach, for they make you feel naked – Exodus 28:42).  You show up to see 4,500 people, an organ, and donuts being distributed during their “Sunday Morning Praise Hour”.  How could you have known?  You did your best, right?  HOGWASH!

     When your first thought of God is on the Sunday morning of your trip you have shown that you are just a fake.  You placed a hotel with a view as a priority rather than a church with which to assemble and worship with.  If you were really a faithful Christian you would “Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” (Colossians 3:2)  You would not allow God to be so distant from your mind that you would wait until the last minute to find a group of faithful brethren to worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24) with .  God would have been your priority.  A faithful Christian will seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness (Matthew 6:33), not the best tourists areas of the world without faithful brethren to worship with.  We are to assemble on the first day of the week even when traveling, as Paul did (Acts 20:6-7).  Faithful Christians have their priorities straight.

     If one finds that their plans do not revolve around God they need to change that.  The goal of a Christian is to find themselves living beyond this life in a place “eternal in the heavens” (II Corinthians 5:1).  One cannot make Heaven their home if they are not going to give their life to the Lord (Matthew 10:39).  That means God takes priority over vacation spots, work, and even your family (Matthew 10:37, Mark 10:29-30, and Luke 14:26).  With these very clear points, we have to be sure what our priorities are when we travel.  If you are going to be traveling when the local church assembles, you need to find brethren with which to worship with.  If you cannot, that does not excuse you of your duties.  If you cannot find faithful brethren to assemble with, that should cause you to change your plans.

     Some brethren say things like this: “I go to see my family and it is 300 miles from here, so I won’t be able to get back by Sunday.  I will just have to miss or attend with the liberals.  Since it would be wrong to attend with the liberals I will just miss all together.  Boy, we need a sound church over there.”  Just imagine using that logic with something less meaningless.  Think of telling your boss “I am going to see my family 300 miles from here and since our company is not there, I guess I just won’t be at work for a few days.  Boy, we need our company to be there.”  That would not fly in the secular world, how can brethren expect God to accept any less?  We show our love for the Lord through obedience (John 14:15 and I John 5:2-3).  You cannot expect to be a part-time Christian and get full-time benefits (Matthew 7:21-23).  To proclaim that one is a faithful Christian and all along put God second in their lives is to show themselves to be liars (I John 2:3-4).  Our first priority in life needs to be the Lord.  If God has taken a second seat then your priorities need to be corrected.

     The next time you are sitting down with a map and thinking of all the things in the world you want to see, find a place and then check for congregations you will be able to worship with.  Do not begin planning if God is going to be left out of your trip.  Do not make reservations at a hotel until you have contacted the brethren there.  Let your plans revolve around God.  Do not allow your desires to see a place prevent you from seeing the greatest place - Heaven (John 14:1-3).  This earth and everything contained therein is temporary (II Peter 3:10).  Your soul will live beyond this life (Matthew 25:31-46 and I Corinthians 15:24ff.).  Make reservations for the final trip before you plan for the weekend or week long trips, for Hell is a lot warmer than the Florida coastline (Revelation 21:8).

     One must remember that checking on a sound congregation and making that your priority also involves some investigation (I John 4:1; II John 9-11).  One can use a couple of the online directories of conservative congregations to contact brethren and find out details about their worship, doctrinal practices, and times they assemble: (http://www.goodfight.com/churches/index.php or http://www.findthechurch.com/).  These web sites should be visited and congregations contacted long before the airline, hotel, and other places are called.

     The problem with many brethren today is that they take worship and faithfulness far too lightly.  God has made sacrifices for you (John 3:16) that you will never be able to match.  However, it is time you make some for Him.  After all, your sacrifices for God actually benefit you (II Corinthians 5:10).   Putting God first is spiritually healthy.  Make sure that your family trips and other trips have God in the planning!