Recently, one of my friends had been under the weather and staying home a lot. I missed seeing her face and was so happy to see her at Bible class when she returned. Thankful she felt well enough to get out and about.
I treasure seeing and spending time with this person.
Here Comes a Covid Uptick
That next week had Arkansas all over the news. Yep. Arkansas was headlined as one of the worst states with Covid cases. Oh boy. Not again.
My friend was absent from service that next week. I thought to myself, “She will probably stay home until Covid is under control.”
See, my friend has a few health issues and I assumed she would stay out of service because of Covid.
That following Sunday came and went, and I still hadn’t heard from her. Mark and I started to get concerned, so he called her to check in.
Everything is not About Covid
Turns out, she had not been staying home because she was scared of getting Covid. She was sick with something other than Covid.
Mark and I both felt like heels. We had failed to check on her because we assumed she was okay. We thought she was at home, waiting on the Covid numbers to decline.
We were wrong.
We failed because of assumptions. We failed as Christians to check on our brethren. That hit me in the face like a big ole baseball bat.
I had to ask myself a question – was I showing the love that God would have me to show?
The Love of God
I couldn’t help but think of what Christ said when He spoke of the final judgment in Matthew 25:31-40.
31 When the Son of man shall come in his glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit upon the throne of his glory:
32 And before him shall be gathered all nations: and he shall separate them one from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the goats:
33 And he shall set the sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the left.
34 Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
40 And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
All people should consider the well-being of others. But, Christians should especially look after their brethren. Christ is clear. He tells us that when a Christian visits and meets these needs, they are in all reality doing it to Him.
Christians are commanded to have and show the love of God. How do we know this?
The Bible is full of passages that reveal God’s love, compassion, mercy, and kindness. And our goal should be to be as Christ-like as we possibly can.
The Christian should have the traits displayed by Christ. Christians should be willing and ready to provide for and visit the sick.
I Can’t Go If I Don’t Know
How can I provide for the sick if I don’t know they are sick? That’s a hard one, right? The first step is knowing that someone is sick. But guess what? A magic fairy won’t appear on our shoulders and fill us in on the needs of others.
Strange, Right? Wrong. There are no magic fairies that spread the news. Things can’t be that easy!
To know that someone is sick…I have to take action and physically check on them!
Yep. I have to pick up the phone and call. Or text. Or maybe even get in my car and drive to their home.
How important is it to bear one another’s burdens? Galations 6:2 is clear on this matter.
Galatians 6:2 Bear ye one another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.
There’s no better time than the present to start checking on people who are missing from service. To try to help lift some of the load they may be carrying.
To stop making assumptions about where you think they are.
To start showing the love of Christ.
To stop just thinking about what you should do for others. Don’t set in your recliner and think about how you need to check on someone. Do it. Check on them.
They may need a meal. Or someone to bring them a jug of Orange Juice. Maybe they need their medicine, but are unable to get out. There we have it. Just a few simple ways we can be of help to someone in need.
We only need to be willing and ready to give up a few minutes of our day. That’s not asking a lot.
What did Christ give up for us?
1 John 3:11-18
11 For this is the message that ye heard from the beginning, that we should love one another.
12 Not as Cain, who was of that wicked one, and slew his brother. And wherefore slew he him? Because his own works were evil, and his brother’s righteous.
13 Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you.
14 We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.
15 Whosoever hateth his brother is a murderer: and ye know that no murderer hath eternal life abiding in him.
16 Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
17 But whoso hath this world’s good, and seeth his brother have need, and shutteth up his bowels of compassion from him, how dwelleth the love of God in him?
18 My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.
Read verse 18 again. Then set your mind to doing it.
Searching for Christ
Do you want to show the love of Christ, but maybe you are not in Christ? Or are you not sure if you are? Have you been searching for the heavenly but not quite known how to reach it?
Have you not yet obeyed the gospel?
I have good news. If you are not a Christian, you can become one!
It’s a cookie-cutter process!
Like my husband says, when he is preaching, it’s a cookie-cutter process. What made them Christians in the 1st century will make us Christians today. What is that process?
1. Hear the Gospel. (Romans 10:17, John 8:32)
2. Believe the Gospel (Hebrews 11:6, John 20:31)
3. Repent of past sins (Luke 13:3, Acts 17:30)
4. Confess faith in Jesus Christ (Romans 10:10, Matthew 10:32)
5. Be Baptized (Galatians 3:27, Mark 16:16, Acts 2:38)
6. Be faithful unto death (Revelation 2:10)
Don’t wait until it’s too late. Please.
Reach out to me if you have questions or want to study. I am ready and willing. I will be there for you.
In Christian Love,
Leah Brewer
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