Let’s just pause and consider together the importance, even the power of community! What words come to mind when you consider “community”?
Together…giving…forgiving…receiving…overlooking …passion… compassion… As Christ followers, what a blessing we have to know the Jesus response in hard situations: kindness, compassion, forgiveness, grace. This week, when I saw Ephesians 4:32 on the HeartLight devotional, in the context of this photo, two friends biking up a hill, the thought came to me, “how appropriate!” How many hills have we climbed alone? Isn’t it easier when the road gets steeper or frightening or puzzling or rough to travel life together, in community, with the voice of encouragement near. Even if it’s a walk on the beach, life is so much better …together. We are called to follow Jesus, the Master, in community. That means we are constantly learning to kindly…quietly listen, with ears that care and then and only then offer words that encourage.
There have been so many lessons about the vital importance of community this week: time around the Table of the Lord, communing with other “forgiven” saints, reminding each other we are only there because of His Body, His blood, His grace! Then at our granddaughter’s Spring Choir Concert we were reminded of the need for working together (for hours), listening well, memorizing sounds, matching tone and timbre, following direction to produce amazing harmony and blessing. Their gifted director was characterized by kindness! They closed the evening with “May the road rise to meet you…!”
May we, all in the days ahead, realize how integral community is in our existence and the vital role we all play. We are all in this together as we move toward eternity. “Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together (in community), as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of His return is drawing near.” (Hebr. 10:24-25 NLT)
