HomeWord - Apr. 27, 2011

Stop the Car!

This devotional was written by Robin Dugall

So now I am giving you a new commandment: love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples. —John 13:34-35

When driving on the freeway, I usually make it a point to casually glance at the drivers who are in the lanes around me. Frequently when I do that, I get the overwhelming sense that life is passing us by. The hustle and bustle of living in a fast-paced world is gradually taking its toll. Tension, anger, frustration and depression are the realities that many people face when living at too fast of a pace. Having life pass you by at 65 miles per hour is not a model for healthy and happy living. If lived too fast, much of life will be lived with a feeling of loneliness and isolation. In our culture today, what we really need is for someone to stop the car! We need a friend. We need relationships. We need community. God designed us for relationships. His greatest desire is not only to draw close to us, but also to see us draw close to each other.

We may say that we want anonymity and to be left alone, but if we remain disconnected from relationships, we will soon shrivel up and die. It may appear to be an easy fix – to slow down our lives enough to get out of the fast lane and to get deeply into relationships. Yet, it isn’t that easy! It takes some determination to slow down enough to “do life” meaningfully with people who love and surround us. It is a choice you face: Will you keep driving faster and faster or will you stop the car? Will you keep whizzing by those whom you desperately need or will you stop long enough for your heart to be filled with the love Jesus created for you to enjoy?

GOING DEEPER:

1. What is preventing you from experiencing closer relationships? Is the pace of your life prohibiting you from entering into community with others? Why are you allowing that to happen?

2. What do you think Jesus would say about your lifestyle?  What would be His encouragement to you as He looked at your relational world?

FURTHER READING:

John 13:1-35; Genesis 2:18-25; 1 John 4:7-11 

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