Take One Step Closer

TogetherWho are the people you are closest to? Who are the ones you are journeying beside in this walk of faith? Can you see their faces as you think of them? Can you hear their voices? Can you feel something warm your heart as you think of those friends that have been there for you and you for them?

We walk through life together. We need each other. God designed it that way. He didn’t intend for us to make this journey alone. He planned for us to do it with companions.

Things are different now. Our generation is much faster and busier. It used to be, in an earlier time, that families truly walked through life together. They worked alongside one another. During the harvest, everyone pitched in and went from farm to farm helping one another. Eating and fellowshipping along the way. They truly did live life together.

Now, even though we think we have close relationships, we struggle to find the time to really “do life” together. But we’re so busy, we say. And so are they. One of these days we need to get together. When things slow down.

But things won’t be slowing down. They will only be going faster with each passing week. We have to be intentional about finding the time to do life with others. It’s important. It’s necessary. God told us so in His Word.

So my challenge to you…and to myself, is to take a step closer. Take a step in the direction of those people we mean to connect with but just never get around to it. I don’t know what your particular step will look like. Only you will know that. God will show you if you ask Him.

But this I do know. If we are all willing to take just one step closer to those that God has put in our lives, something wonderful will happen. Who knows, perhaps we will all be close enough to link arms and then we can stand stronger together. When times get tough, we will all be a little stronger, a little more secure and maybe we’ll find life just a little easier than it used to be. Easier than when we were trying to walk this road alone.

I plan to take a step closer. I plan to listen to God and see what He wants that to look like. How about you?

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

Proverbs 27:9 Oil and perfume make the heart glad, and the sweetness of a friend comes from his earnest counsel.

1 Peter 4:8-10 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. Show hospitality to one another without grumbling. As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God’s varied grace.