2
MOVING Experiences
A
non-Christian moves to a new location. If he's fortunate, he has distant family
nearby or an old friend from school who lives within an hour. His immediate
connections are through his job. He slowly begins to meet some neighbors. But
real friendships take time to develop, and so he explores his possibilities for
meeting people. Maybe at the gym? A local bar? Tailgating for a ballgame?
Striking up conversations around the water cooler at work...fishing for common
interests...hoping someone takes the bait and that the fish on the other end of
the line will be at least sane and tolerable? His success in these efforts will
vary.
A Christian moves to a new location. His
salvation through Jesus means he is connected to the True Vine (John 15). And
as a result of his grafting, he immediately receives thousands...millions...of
relationships with other branches of the same Vine...most of which he will never
experience personally this side of heaven. But he's about to meet some of them.
Whether he has blood relatives or old friends within a small radius of his new
home is irrelevant. He has family. Real brothers. Real sisters. All with the
same Father. And so his move is a homecoming. It's as if he's coming home to
familiar friends. These people don't know him personally...they don't know all
the details of his life...but they know his basic story. He is a sinner who has
experienced the grace of God through Jesus...as they have. And whatever lack of
common interest he may share with the members of this family, he shares a union
with Jesus. They are fellow branches of the Vine. And therefore they have "all
things in common" (Acts 2:44).
Friendships still take time to develop. The deepening of relationships is a process. But a Christian has an amazing jump-start. Thank you all for making the move to a new place...with no blood relatives...feel like a homecoming for Maranda and myself. My prayer is that all of you can share the same experience each time you make a transition.
To
His Glory,
Caleb
