Connections

 February 20, 2023

Often when we read the Bible, it’s just so many words on a page to us. Even if I am diligent and faithful about my time in the Word of God, I confess that too often, I read with a dull head and heart. I’ve “done my duty” so to speak, but haven’t heard God speaking. Most of the time when that happens, it’s because I haven’t really brought myself to the Scriptures. The Bible doesn’t operate in a vacuum; it’s designed to address life as we experience it, so if I don’t take the time to get quiet before the Lord and to assess what’s going on inside me, the Word has no target to hit. Jeremiah assures us that the Word of God will accomplish its purpose, but it cannot do so apart from connecting with life as we live it.

This morning I received a call from some dear friends asking me to come to the ICU. Their loved one is very ill and possibly dying. “Would you come?” I had just showered, so needed just enough time to get dressed and drive to the hospital, but hadn’t had the time yet to sit down with my Bible for my morning’s devotions. I punched into my phone Bible app the Scripture reference for what I had intended to read; Acts 20, where Paul is saying goodbye to his good friends from Ephesus. 

The final verses read, “When Paul had finished speaking, he knelt down with all of them and prayed. They all wept as they embraced him and kissed him. What grieved them most was his statement that they would never see his face again. Then they accompanied him to the ship.”

My time with the family touched me more deeply than usual. These long-ago people lived and loved much as we do today, and felt the pain of saying goodbye to someone they had grown to love. Sometimes Christians make the mistake of believing that knowing Christ and the promise of eternal life cancels grief. It does not. If anything, it deepens the sense of loss; the greater the love, the greater the grief. These people accompanied Paul to the ship, squeezing every last drop out of this relationship which they knew was ending except for in their hearts. 

This family today is experiencing the gut-wrenching loss of one who has been at the center of their lives for as long as they can remember. They stand in vigil by his bedside, tears flowing as the minutes tick by. Love runs deep for those who love Jesus, and though we don’t grieve hopelessly as do some, we still grieve. 

So look around you. All the stuff we spend so much of our lives to accumulate is just stuff, but the people…they are the heart and soul of our lives. Cherish them, hold them close, tell them you love them while you still can. All too soon, the tears will flow, and today’s reading will be your story and mine. Today, it connected, and I am humbled to have been invited to stand with this family on holy ground.