“Christians are persons who no longer seek their salvation, their deliverance, their justification in themselves, but in Jesus Christ alone. They know that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them guilty, even when they feel nothing of their own guilt, and that God’s Word in Jesus Christ pronounces them free and righteous even when they feel nothing of their own righteousness…

Because they daily hunger and thirst for righteousness, they long for the redeeming Word again and again. It can only come from the outside. In themselves they are destitute and dead. Help must come from the outside; and it has come and comes daily and anew in the Word of Jesus Christ, bringing us redemption, righteousness, innocence, and blessedness. But God put this Word into the mouth of human beings so that it may be passed on to others. When people are deeply affected by the Word, they tell it to other people. God has willed that we should seek and find God’s living Word in the testimony of other Christians, in the mouths of human beings. Therefore, Christians need other Christians who speak God’s Word to them. They need them again and again when they become uncertain and disheartened” (Dietrich Bonhoeffer).

I think that the gospel isn’t something we need just once. It’s not something you hear once, believe, then move on from. It’s not just something that serves as a free pass into heaven and that’s all.

The gospel is something you and I need to hear every day. We need to preach the gospel to ourselves at least once a day. Then we need to preach it to each other as often as needed. Like the familiar prescription that says “take as often as needed.”

We need it every single day. We need to be reminded that we’re sinners who deserve hell and are separated from God. We need to be reminded that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son so that we might not perish and end up in hell but have eternal life, abundant life, and — best of all — Jesus.

We need the reminders because we’re forgetful. Or at least I am. I tend to revert back to thinking that I’m not all that bad of a person and that I can really do alright on my own without any help from God. I forget that I needed the blood of Jesus to save me as much as anyone who has ever lived.

But God is faithful to remind me. And He created community for us to be able to encourage, exhort, and remind each other of the gospel. That’s why it’s vital not to neglect meeting together. That’s why we need each other as much as we need God.

Preach the gospel to yourself and each other at least once daily. And call the Great Physician in the morning.