Building True Communities
Spend some time dwelling on your answer to this question: When was the last time you visited with an old friend in person?
Don’t rush. Think it over. Honestly, how long has it been?
For far too many of us, the answer is hard to come by. We can probably remember a recent text with an old friend. It may be easier even to recall the last time you commented on a social media update they shared. Has that happened today, in the past few days? Likely, it has. There’s nothing wrong with these light and easy connections. They’re simple, convenient, fast, and pretty much free.
But a visit to someone’s house? To call them up and ask for a face-to-face visit?! For some of us, this is a “yikes”.
“You want them to come to my HOUSE? Can’t I just send them an Instagram pic of my Christmas tree?”
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:11).
These days, we have impressive amounts of online contacts, but much smaller numbers of true face-to-face friendships. You might wonder why this matters. It’s a new world; we can talk to our friends in such convenient ways!
Yet, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever (Hebrews 13:8). His commands for us remain the same because he knows that our needs remain the same.
…Let us consider how to stimulate one another to love and good deeds,not forsaking our own assembling together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another; and all the more as you see the day drawing near (Hebrews 10:24-25).
Some parts of this challenge are simple. Some parts are more of a, well, a challenge. Maybe for you, this is where things get tricky. Maybe this is where you see that you do, in fact, need to rethink some routines. Maybe your Saturday movie night needs to be reworked so you can spend some time at the house of an elderly neighbor. Perhaps that Sunday drive should be shortened to a drive across town to a friend’s house that you haven’t reached out and hugged in a good long while. Do you have relatives you haven’t visited with in years? Reach out before the opportunity passes you by.
No matter what your current situation is, there are people in your path. Allow the light in you to shine on them. Find out how you can pray for them. Ask to pray with them. Be bold. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst (Matthew 18:20). And remember that there are no coincidences in the realm of God. The fact that you came knocking on their door might, in fact, be an answer to a prayer in itself.
Today’s Challenge: Think of at least ten people who you haven’t communicated with in awhile. This might take longer than today’s devotion time allows so linger on this question throughout the next few days. Pray that God reveals others to you. Make a plan to reconnect over the next month with at least a few of the people on your list. But more than this, do so with an intent to share with them Christ’s love and light.
Forty Days of Faithful 
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