Make fellowship a priority

"I want them to be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love. I want them to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself." Colossians 2:2 NLT

After missing our usual Saturday morning group run due to inclement weather, I was super excited that my best running buddies had yesterday off to make up for it. And while most people's idea of a good time is not waking up early on their day off just to bundle up and head out into the cold for no other reason than to log some miles, that's exactly what my running family calls a good time (followed by coffee of course). Call us crazy but we sure have fun; something that seemed obvious after posting some of the pictures to social media. "Whew!!" one person wrote. "In the weather too! That's dedication." To which I replied, "We are as much addicted to the running as the friendship!! We look forward to group runs all week." And you know, that's really not an exaggeration. Ask any one of the runners that attend our weekly meetups and they'll tell you how much they enjoy them... not just for the exercise though, but for the fellowship. We truly do love one another.

And you know, when it comes to meeting together, Paul understood that loving one another was the key to making regular times of fellowship a priority--something that was crucial to the believers growing in unity and steadfastness. You see, Paul understood that discouraged, downcast, depressed and disheartened Christians could easily fall into temptation or be led astray which is the very reason he wanted the church to "be encouraged and knit together by strong ties of love." He also wanted them "to have complete confidence that they understand God’s mysterious plan, which is Christ himself." This confidence would allow the church to remain true to God's plan of salvation in Christ and stand against anything, anyone, or any teaching that might divide them. 

So make fellowship a priority my friend no matter what the weather holds. You'll not only reap the physical benefits from doing so but the emotional, mental, and spiritual ones too. There's just something about time spent with fellow believers that makes a person better. 

Heavenly Father, thank You for reminding us that time spent with our brothers and sisters in Christ is always time well spent. Compel us to meet regularly so that we would be united in love, encouraged in spirit and dedicated to carrying out Christ's work. It's in your precious name we pray Jesus. Amen. 

Happy Running!!!