On Relationships

I know a guy whose friend Mark died last week at the age of 48 of a massive heart attack.  I knew Mark, though not well...he was more acquaintence than friend to me.  But I knew a little about him.  When I saw him, Mark was always smiling and laughing, and always quick with a joke.  He was a hard worker.  He was reliable and trustworthy.  He loved his family.  He was a good friend.

We were standing in the driveway talking to my friend the day after Mark died.  He was so clearly shaken and upset...he choked up several times talking about it.  One thing he told us really stood out to me.  He said, "Mark was such a friendly, nice person.  You could tell he really cared about people.  Sometimes I think that's why God put Mark in my life...I haven't always been that way."  I can relate.  Maybe you can too.

My wife and I went to Mark's calling hours last night.  Afterward, we agreed that the world would be a better place if there were more people like Mark in it.  I kept thinking about what my friend said...and how it applies to each of us.  God put us here, and God gave us relationships and each other.  What we do with these relationships is a sign of the strength of our Christian faith.  In his book The Relationship Principles of Jesus, Tom Holladay writes:

"[...]In the beginning, God created you for relationships.  He made you to relate to him and to others.  Miss out on relationships, and you're missing the core reason for which God put you on this planet.  And in the end, nothing is more important, because nothing will last longer than relationships.  Your relationships with God and others will last all the way into eternity..."

How perfect.  How true.  May it someday be said of each of us, "You could tell he (or she) really cared about people..."  This is such an important part of God's will for our lives.  One that we would be foolish to overlook.

"Jesus said, 'The first in importance is, ‘Listen, Israel: The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.’ And here is the second: ‘Love others as well as you love yourself.’ There is no other commandment that ranks with these.'”  Mark 12:29-31 (MSG)