Kevin DeYoung has a helpful article at the Gospel Coalition about the most important decision students will face as they move into adulthood and go out on their own. He writes, "Of all the decisions you’ll face this year, the most important one may be whether you get up and go to church on the very first Sunday when no one is there to make sure that you go to church."
There will always be other things pressing for your time and attention: exams to study for, a job, friends, a campus ministry, etc. Those are all good things. However, other things may not be so good: laziness, a desire to avoid relationships that require work, or a desire to hide sinful lifestyle choices.
But, if you belong to Jesus, you need to be gathering with the church family. You might think your personal relationship with Jesus doesn't require this, but you would be wrong. DeYoung provides a helpful quote from John Stott on this: "An unchurched Christian is a grotesque anomaly. The New Testament knows nothing of such a person. For the church lies at the very center of the eternal purpose of God. It is not a divine afterthought." God says that the church is Jesus's bride, body, family, and temple. If we ignore what God prioritizes, then we will miss out on joy, and we will easily begin to ignore other things he tells us.
One more thing to consider. The church body needs each member if it is to grow as a healthy body (1 Cor. 12). If you choose not to prioritize it, you will also deprive other brothers and sisters of what you owe them.
There are always other things that compete with attending the worship service and other meetings. Sometimes we might have to miss, but we should miss being there in our affections. We should take long to be with God's people. Don't fall into the temptation of saying you are too busy. We are busy with the things we think are most important. So, if we are consistently too busy, then we are saying it isn't the highest priority. But, for the sake of your own soul and the building up of the body, decide to make gathering on Sundays (and coming to a Bible study if you can) a top priority.
