Everyone is going from point A to point B.

Everyone is living their days with the same 24 hours every day. No one gets a single second more than the other.

What is interesting is some people are able to get so much more enjoyment and life out of life than others. What is the difference? How can some get the more joy out of life than others when we are all living the same 24 hour days? Why are some never satisfied?

One is busy going from one place to another. Their goal is the destination and everything and everyone in between is an obstruction and a nuisance to be avoided. Think about that last sentence. The people in that sentence include your family, spouse, friends, and strangers. Because we have made the goal and objective of life the destination we see everyone and everything as an obstruction and nuisance.

Wow. What a sad way to live.

Such is the life of a traveler.

One who is journeying through life also gets to the destination. But the destination is only a part of the journey. All of the journey – the traffic congestion, the conversations along the way, the fellow journeyers, the smells, the sounds, the sights, and fellow journeyers – all of that is the journey.

There are no obstructions. There are no nuisances. It’s all part of the journey.

We will all arrive at the destination one way or the other. The question is how do you want to get there.

We are on a journey.

Journeyers take the time to notice the life that is happening all around them. Most importantly, they make the time to notice the people on their journey. Unless you take the time and intentionally make the time to notice, you will miss it all. And most importantly, you will miss the people. And what a shame that is for you and everyone in your life.

Life is a journey. Live it well.

“I have on my table a violin string,” wrote Ranidranath Tagore.

“It is free to move in any direction I like. If I twist one end it responds; it is free. But it is not free to sing. So I take it and fix it into my violin. I bind it and when it is bound, it is free for the first time to sing.”

Our society believes freedom is to be free from all restrictions and boundaries.

But what if we were created and made to be bound? Bound to God, bound to righteousness, bound to holiness, bound to make a difference in the lives of others, etc.

Freedom from all restrictions and boundaries is chaos. Worse yet, such freedom prevents us from becoming what we were created to be.

Freedom – the freedom to be what we were created to be – is found in being closely bound to our Creator.

His name is Jesus.

Do you know him? Receive Jesus as LORD and Savior.

You don’t have to like everyone in order to be a great church.

It’s quite likely there are people in church who get on your nerves. And you can be sure there are many for whom you grate their nerves.

If there is a gathering of people in your church, there will be times you are absolutely flabbergasted because of their support for President Trump or because of the way they can’t stand President Trump, because of their views on gun rights, view of the homeless, etc.

And when you see or hear such people speak, you can’t help but think to yourself, “I could never be friends with such people.”

Did you know that’s actually a good thing?

Let me clarify.

It’s not a good thing if that’s where you stop – divisions, clicks, disunity based on interests and loyalties. That’s what everyone else does.

It is absolutely a good thing that there are a diversity of people and views present in the church. God put them there! God placed a diverse people in the church so that the church can show the world that people can disagree on issues and still absolutely care for, love, honor, and respect one another. Few other human organizations are able to pull this off. But this is exactly what the church is called to do and be.

The reason why the church can move beyond human loyalties is because our commitment to follow Jesus trumps all other loyalties.

Jesus is Lord!

You don’t have to agree nor support people’s views and opinions. But we are absolutely called to respect, honor, love, and care for all people.

Why? Because, Jesus is Lord!