Don't let life get in the way...

I have this saying that really is a lot more like an excuse when you think about it. "You know, sometimes, life gets in the way." I use this saying when someone tells me that someone let them down by not showing up somewhere that they promised to be, or they didn't do what they said they were going to do.

It's true. Life does get in the way. Sometimes we get busy with work, or family obligations. There is so much going on that it's difficult at times to not get distracted by what's going on in the world.

Nehemiah starts out the same way. Nehemiah is an official in the court of the King, but one day he sees someone that he knows and asks a simple question: "How are things back at home?"

And I asked them concerning the Jews who escaped, who had survived the exile, and concerning Jerusalem. And they said to me, “The remnant there in the province who had survived the exile is in great trouble and shame. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates are destroyed by fire.”
As soon as I heard these words I sat down and wept and mourned for days, and I continued fasting and praying before the God of heaven. (Nehemiah 1:2-4, ESV)

When Nehemiah heard that things weren't well at home, he wept, mourned, fasted and prayed.

How many times do we hear things about friends, co-workers, or family and we just let it go? We don't bother to think about it emotionally? We just give it a casual, "Oh that's sad..." and move on?

As Christians, we are called to love on another. Loving one another means that we care about what is going on in the lives of others. When was the last time that you asked someone to pray with them?

 "Love one another" is mentioned 20 times or more in the New Testament. Let's not get so wrapped up in our own world that we let life get in the way. Let us struggle to keep our eyes open, let us love one another and care for one another.