Make It Personal and Intentional

via TJC

Lord Jesus, we thank You for loving and giving us Good Friday. 

Without Good Friday, there would have not been a Resurrection and Sanctification; no access to The Father. You endured the whole curse of the law, bore our guilt. We have had our guilty sentence removed. You have freed us from the burden we earned under the Law. We are so very grateful. 

You did for us what we could not. You, Lord, were the perfect sacrificial Lamb. We honor and glorify You. Thank You, Jesus, for Good Friday.

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I had many things to write, but I will not with ink and pen write unto thee: But I trust I shall shortly see thee, and we shall speak face to face. 3 John 13-14a KJV

I hope to address two topics in one here; let’s see how it goes.

I recently purchased a book to read called, “Getting’ un BUSY” by Garland Vance (pray I actually complete a book I purchased, lol). On p.49, he sums up business in one simple vortex called the Busyness Vortex where Hurry, Worry, and Scurry are in a continuous downward spiral.

I have a friendship with two neighbors (Mark and John) and a brother-in-Christ (Tommy) whom I have had an incredibly hard time pouring into because I’m seemingly so “busy”. I’ve been tempted to send a quick text message many times. Only to stop myself and say, “if you can’t call, don’t text”.

Thankfully, Mark lives right next door and we can do the Tim/Wilson talk frequently, but even that has its dry spells (if you are under 30 this is a reference to the 90s show Home Improvement). John is a little harder because he no longer lives across the street, but I’ve been convicted to maintain the friendship, and praise God I have, because it genuinely means something to both of us. We’re having breakfast this week and will discuss plans to attend some Fredericksburg Nationals games together (along with my son). Again, I made that phone call and was pleasantly surprised at how eager he was to hear from me. 

Tommy has some severe physical handicaps from a work accident years ago. I was doing a great job last summer visiting, doing things for him, taking him places, and setting up contractors for work on his house. However, this winter proved difficult through my own issues, and I found myself putting him off more and more. I owe him a phone call (at minimum), and a visit is a must. 

In-person interaction is crucial. It must be done, even when we don’t feel like it or have our own “stuff” weighing us down. People still need us, and we need them, but most of all we need to listen to the Spirit to keep us from being distracted and be intentional about making those personal interactions. Often with true friendships, simple written “text” will not suffice.

Daily Battle Order

I feel very out of sync when I have not maintained friendships. Texting is okay (try to keep to minimum), phone calls are better (something about hearing someone’s voice), face to face interaction is best (needs no explanation). My favorite thing about face-to-face interaction with my best friend is the bear hug I give/receive, that and the “reality jabs” (hahaha). What are you missing out on with the lack of face-to-face interactions and what things do you need to share that text and phone just won’t cover.