Tuesday, August 29, 2023
Today, I am baking cookies.
Most people who know me will tell you I’m not exactly the most confident or capable person in the kitchen. I have a couple things I know how to make well, this recipe being one of them—and even still, I’ve managed to mess this one up horribly in the past (… twice). But when I get it right, it’s delicious so here’s hoping!
The cookies are for my neighbors, whom I don’t know terribly well. Admittedly, I haven’t made a great effort to get to know them in the two-ish years since I bought this house. My parents have lived in the same house since I was three, and our neighbors were always like family—a luxury I took for granted growing up. But now that I’m in a new neighborhood, my neighbors are unfamiliar to me—they’re strangers. And between my full-time job, keeping up the house, my busy social life, plus my side projects, it’s hard to make time to get to know anyone new.
Or at least, that was what I told myself whenever I had opportunities to connect with the people living around me, but chose not to. Ben’s message this weekend was a convicting reminder.
If I’m being honest, despite working at CedarCreek, I’m not very good at inviting people to church. Some blame can be placed on the fact that I work at a church—most of my coworkers and friends are through CedarCreek and thus already Christ followers. In the past, I was a little envious of people who work in secular jobs where it’s much easier to introduce coworkers and customers to Jesus. And yet, I have failed to make use of the ministry God has given me by placing me in my current neighborhood.
In the Bible, we see the way Jesus connected with the people around him by making them feel seen and welcome. He never treated them like projects. Instead, he saw the real person: he learned their name, saw their needs, and invited and encouraged them to take next steps.
I do at least know my neighbors’ names (well, mostly). And in the past month, God has helped me see some of their needs. My neighbor on one side has experienced the devastating loss of a family member; on the other side, they’re celebrating the birth of a new grandchild. So today, I am baking cookies to show compassion to one and help celebrate with the other. I don’t know where God may take these connections in the future, and that’s okay—knowing I am faithfully following my Savior’s example is enough.
Mark 2:14-15
14 As he walked along, he saw Levi son of Alphaeus sitting at his tax collector’s booth. “Follow me and be my disciple,” Jesus said to him. So Levi got up and followed him. 15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.)
Questions:
Who are your neighbors—the people within arm’s length of you?
Do you know their names, needs, or next steps?
Next Steps:
Find one way you can connect with your neighbors this week. It may be simply learning their names, seeing and helping them with a need, or inviting them to take a next step.
Prayer: Day 16 - To Surrender to Him (Romans 12:1)
Gracious God, I praise you for your generous gifts: the time you have given me, the resources you have provided, the relationships you have blessed me with, and the talents you have granted me. I offer them all back to you. I let go of my control. You are the owner; I am only a caretaker of what you have entrusted to me for a while. Everything is yours. God, direct my steps. Help me to hear and follow your voice. Teach me to rely on you and use what you have given me for your glory. May your will be done in me and through me. In Jesus’ name I pray, amen.
Series Theme Verse:
1 John 4:10-11
10 This is real love—not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other.