Joined to the Lord and One Another, B.H.

Sometimes I only begin to appreciate something in its absence. I didn't think much about my thumb until I cut it. I didn't fully appreciate my car until I was without it. I never loved my college years until they were over. Similarly, I never truly considered the local church until I seemed far away from it. Having distanced myself from the local church to varying degrees, I've begun to realize its worth in my life and understand its role in what the Lord is after.

I spent my high school years in the local church, enjoying the labor of love the families had for the young people. From morning prayer and fellowship with a young companion to weekday afternoons and dinners in the homes of families, I was cherished and preserved in the local church. College, however, presented many opportunities for different kinds of experiences, most of which conflicted with my pursuit of the Lord. I excused myself from most church meetings because I was busy with school or organizations or work. I felt that I would be okay so long as I was pursuing the Lord on my own. I must have figured that it was enough to pursue the Lord in any way whether alone or together. But it became apparent that my contact with the Lord was minimal and my enjoyment of Christ fell short. And there was a deeper longing within for something better. I was running the Christian race alone, and it wasn't until the middle of my senior year that things began to turn around. I started to volunteer at the aquarium downtown and spent Friday nights with sisters from the local church living in that area. Spending time with them allowed us to build a foundation, not only to get to know one another in a natural way, but also to encourage one another in the Lord and to build something of eternal value. My love for the Lord was rekindled and my spiritual supply was restored. I began to realize that the Lord wasn't interested in individual Christians; rather, He's interested in gaining a corporate expression (Ephesians 1:22, 23).

Since then I've lived in Alaska, Seattle, Miami, and California, and again, my enjoyment and love for the Lord has often been proportionally related to the degree of my participation in the local churches. The Lord is after one universal body for His expression (1 Corinthians 12:12, Matthew 16:18); we are also members one of another (Romans 12:5), and the practical, geographical, logistical procedure for such an expression involves the local churches (Matthew 18:17). It is in the local churches that I've found seekers of the Lord and the best environment to pursue the Lord. By our mutual enjoyment of and participation in the Lord, we are being knit together, built up as the one Body of Christ (Ephesians 4:16). I've realized how present the Lord is in the local churches and I choose that they would never be absent from my life again.