Instant Human

“This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his 

life for his friends. John 15:12

America is the most unrested and sleep deprived nation in the world. That is a fact. On average 50-70 million Americans report some sort of sleep deprivation. 54% of Americans over 18 drink a cup of coffee everyday and 18 billion dollars are spent on average each year on "specialty coffees" to keep ourselves awake and alert each day. We are tired, and why wouldn’t we be with so much to do!  We are the “pull yourself up by your bootstraps”, “put your big girl pants on”, “work hard to play hard”, “weekend warriors”, country.  Weakness is not an option, working through the pain is celebrated, and rest is often considered laziness. 

But the one thing that really kills us is the “I’ll just do it myself” mentality. Not only does it make life harder, but human beings were created to live and work in community.  It didn’t take God long after he made Adam, to see the need for Eve.  What was Jesus’ first task when beginning his adult ministry?  It was recruiting disciples, the people who would be his community and partners in ministry.  When Jesus says, “love one another as I have loved you”, he means to love in community.  There were very few places that Jesus went alone.  So many of the gospel stories begin with a variation of this sentence “As Jesus and His disciples were traveling together”.  Jesus chose community, because we cannot do life alone.  To love as Jesus loves, we have to be willing to lay down our lives for our friends, so wouldn’t it make sense to have friends? Friends. True friends. Not acquaintances.

It is a challenge to live in community, and sometimes it is easier to do something ourselves, but often it sacrifices much time and community in the “lone wolf" process.  Today, who do you need to connect with?  Do you need to trust God and trust others more? This week, have your coffee with a friend. Life is too hard and too long a road to travel alone.

Prayer: Jesus you know what it means to live and love in community.  You depended on others for prayer, friendship and a place to lay your head.  Help us not to be so self-sufficient that we risk relationships that could enrich our lives and our faith.