REMAIN WITH THE FLOCK!

As believers, we know how imperative it is to remain in contact with other believers. We must not let anything or anyone keep us from remaining in the flock. Blessings and joy and peace.

 

ETERNAL PERSPECTIVES        by Sally Bair

Isolation

My mom contracted staph infection in her right hand one year and had to be hospitalized in isolation for several days. Her only, infrequent contact was with the necessary nurses who had to don isolation garb, which took extra time from their regular duties.

Lonely but determined to make the most of her time, Mom taught herself how to write with her left hand, scrawling out children’s stories.

Self-imposed isolation can be as deadly to the soul and spirit as staph infection can be to the body. Years ago I committed a serious moral sin and felt so guilty about it that I quit attending church. Not wanting to face possible censure or embarrassment, I left my friends. I didn’t want to face God, either.

Isolation is one of the devil’s greatest tools. Isolated prisoners of war have been known to lose their sanity, their hope, and their faith in God. The ones who were—or are—able to communicate by code through walls fared far better than those unable to do so. Servicemen and women who refuse to talk about their horrific experiences are less likely to heal emotionally.

We are somewhat like sheep when it comes to isolation. Having no natural protection from predators, sheep stay close together. Pity the poor sheep that steps outside its flock. It might as well wear a tag that says, “Here I am, wolf, come and get me.” It veers off toward danger.

We too tend to veer toward danger when we leave our “flock” of family, friends, or fellow Christians. We cover our guilt with any number of excuses to remain isolated, believing we no longer have a place with our flock.

God tells us to remain close to His flock. “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2) Hebrews 10:25 says, “… not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another …” God makes it clear that we must come alongside our Christian brothers and sisters with truth, inspiration, and spiritual help. We need one another.

We especially need to be in fellowship with God. “(1 John 1:6-7) “If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.”

Thank You, Good Shepherd, for promoting fellowship with You and with one another. Keep us close to Your flock. In Jesus’ name, amen.