Cherishing Relationships

Scripture

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Scripture:

And he said, “Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord.” (Job 1:21)

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Observation

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When newborns arrive on earth, we receive them totally naked. Job acknowledged that he is like a newborn, arriving with nothing and also unable to take away with him anything when he dies. Anything more is from God, and God has the right to take them away at any time. Similarly, we do not possess anything and things will not follow us when we depart from this earth. But more often than not, we seek to possess and hold on to many things, wanting even more. Yet, when we have them, we may not cherish them. Perhaps an important question to ask would be, "What must we learn to cherish?" I think we need to seriously cherish areas such as relationship (fellowship) with God, and our earthly relationships.

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Application

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Apart from relationship with God, relationships with family and friendships are important as long as we are on earth. Our family relationships cannot be changed and are God given. On the other hand, friendships may be transient as lives move on with different seasons, or they can be taken away unexpectedly. Job here experienced great pain when his loved ones, and dear relationships were suddenly taken away. When we are fortunate to have lifetime friendships, they are hard to come by and take effort and commitment to maintain. Perhaps we could spend some time remembering our family and friends, send a quick text of remembrance, or commit to catching up with them.

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Prayer

 

Dear God, help me to recognise and build a precious relationship with You, and with family and friends. Help me to show love to my family members. Also, help me to build authentic relationships with friends where we could find support with one another.