Linking Up
Let us think of ways to motivate one another to acts of love and good works. And let us not neglect our meeting together, as some people do, but encourage one another, especially now that the day of his return is drawing near. (Hebrews 10:24–25)
If I have learned anything during my journey on planet Earth, it is that people need one another. The presence of other people is essential—caring people, helpful people, interesting people, friendly people, thoughtful people. These folks take the grind out of life. About the time we are tempted to think we can handle things all alone—boom! We run into some obstacle and need assistance. We discover all over again that we are not nearly as self-sufficient as we thought.
In spite of our high-tech world and efficient procedures, people remain the essential ingredient of life. When we forget that, a strange thing happens: we start treating people like inconveniences instead of assets.
Since none of us is a whole, independent, self-sufficient, super-capable, all-powerful hotshot, let’s quit acting like we are. Life’s lonely enough without our playing that silly role.
The game’s over. Let’s link up.
People are important to each other. Above all, people are important to God. Which does not diminish His authority and self-sufficiency at all. The creation of humanity on the sixth day was the crowning accomplishment of the Lord’s creation handiwork. Furthermore, He put into humankind His very image, which He did not do for plant life or animals, birds, or fish.
It was for the salvation of humanity, not brute beasts, that Christ came and died, and it will be for us that He will someday return. The major reason I am involved in a writing ministry, a broadcasting ministry, and a church ministry is that people need to be reached and nurtured in the faith. This could be said of anyone serving the Lord Christ.
Couldn’t God do it all? Of course, He is God—all-powerful and all-knowing and all-sufficient. That makes it all the more significant that He prefers to use us in His work. Even though He could operate completely alone on this earth, He seldom does. Almost without exception, He uses people in the process. His favorite plan is a combined effort: God plus people equals accomplishment.
Taken from The Owner’s Manual for Christians by Charles R. Swindoll. Copyright © 2009 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. Used by permission of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. www.harpercollinschristian.com
