Recently, I've begun reading through the Book of Proverbs. Today I read chapter 18; this is the first verse:
"A man who isolates himself seeks
his own desire;
He rages against all wise
judgement."
Do you find that your behavior is different when you are alone? I know mine is different. I turn moody, my thoughts turn mean, and I spend way too much time feeling sorry for myself. I just waste so much time. When I get to be around my friends, I become warmer, more gregarious, and I am reminded very clearly how good God is to me. The love God has given me is real, but so are the sins of self-interest with which I struggle.
I lived a very large part of my life alone. I mean, I was living where I am now, with my family, but I had essentially cut myself off from any sort of unnecessary human contact. Of course, for me that meant nearly all human contact of any kind. I wasn't in school, I was unemployed, I wasn't saved. It is (and was) a miserable way to live.
I still have to contend with the tendency to isolate. Although I've gotten better, it still takes time and effort to muster the energy and willingness to reach out to others. Since I've been saved, I have not regretted any opportunity to spend time with friends, to have the pleasure and encouragement of fellowship. Still, I will find myself approaching such situations with a certain degree of reluctance. Many is the time that I've had to stop, pray that God will help me to do right, and to remember how much better things are now than how they were before. Then I go and have a good time.
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