Psalm 38:17 For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me.

Then STOP.

Every stop sign is a cautionary tale. They are placed where history says there is real danger. They do not put up stop signs on lonely roads with no cross traffic.

We have been talking about holiness at church, so the issue has been in the forefront of my thoughts for days. We are not through with the subject, it is not as easy as saying just don’t sin. It is and always has been an impossible task to be as holy as God. We blew that before we even knew there was a God. Our view of holiness will always be littered with our past.

Herein lies my point for today. It is the past. The verse above says my sorrows are continually ahead of me. That is a point of view. If you can see that the way you are going leads to sorrows, regret, and hurt, then stop, don’t go there.

When we are feeling empty, sad, lonely, unfulfilled or dozens of other emotions that say to you I need something, then the human tendency is to be recreational. We want to re-create feeling good. Our history of feeling good is a pool that is shallow and painful when we dive headlong into it. We have been there and found it unfulfilling as a life worth leaving and we turned to the Lord for help.

We find ourselves forgetting the pain, because it is pain, and the pleasures of the past, even though they were only momentary and not lasting, still feel like they were good. Most sin does or otherwise we would not have done them in the first place.

My advice here is as temporary as the sin which tempts us. Stop. Look at what lays before you. Is the Lord leading you? Temporary because you will have to do it again tomorrow.

Psalm 39:20 They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.

Psalm 144:3 Lord, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Here is the basis of relationship, to take knowledge of one another. We relate to one another primarily because we open up our lives to one another and share knowledge of self. We are attracted to others who share common interests. That is natural because our nature is to shed loneliness and we are comforted in common interest.

When people come into our church they do not know anyone. We have greeters who are warm and inviting. That does not say much about them as individuals but it represents the ideals of our church. In that they represent the church as a whole. As individuals we have to inquire with earnest interest with new comers to gain some knowledge of them. Names are a good start, that is important. People feel unimportant if you cannot remember their names.

Some people are very open with who they are and know how to gravitate to likeminded people. It is the ones who do not find it easy that need special attention. Perhaps they do not like to be pressed. They may find our brand of hospitality as different and uncomfortable. But they are in our midst for a reason and that is something. “What brings you to us today?” Anything that brings information to light is the beginning of relationship.

Most of us are looking to relate to someone to quiet the loneliness. Community brings security but that sense of community, belonging, is a two-way conversation. We have to share a little about ourselves without dominating the conversation. “I am retired.” That says I have time and leaves room for questions. If they ask questions it indicates they are looking to relate. Discovery is a personal quest and if we overshare, we kill the incentive for discovery.

Can you relate to this? Have you felt this way? Are you seeking? Then share yourself.