Devotions with Pastor Michael De Haan

“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds.” (Hebrews 10:24)

Have you noticed how busy everyone seems to be? We fill our calendars with all sorts of things—often good things. But these good, busy things have contributed to isolation. In fact, when asked how you're doing, often we respond with, “I’m so busy!” It is interesting to think about how our modern conveniences have shifted us into this busier and isolated society. For instance, there’s the air conditioner. Before the AC, people sat on their front porches to catch a breeze to cool off. On the front porch, you could wave to and interact with your neighbors. But with AC, we don’t have to sit on our front porches anymore. Attached garages didn’t help either. Now we just pull in, close the door and we’re inside our house. Fences, gated communities, answering machines, and caller ID all reinforce this notion that we are too busy to be bothered. If we want to be left alone, we can. We don’t have to interact with anyone, so we don’t. Even online shopping and social media make it so much easier to avoid interaction with people.

But when I read the gospels, I see that Jesus always had time for people. He talked to them, fed them, healed them, and forgave them. He often met physical needs in order to address spiritual needs. It makes me wonder: if I am too busy to even interact with the people around me—let alone engage with their struggles—am I really following Christ’s example? If we’re too busy to interact with people, then we are also missing out on the blessing of loving and serving one another.

Today, let’s all take the time to stop, listen to, and talk with someone you see every day but rarely slow down to get to know.

Pastor Michael