The Butterfly and the Bee...

Years ago,
as I sat sewing one day,

I gazed out the window
into the garden.

There, on a spire of hyssop
 the color of 

the sky at dusk,

I saw a breath-taking sight.

A butterfly and a bee
sat on the same spire,

contentedly enjoying its sweet nectar.

No pride of will or lust of station.

Just peaceful harmony.

How like that pair
is the Body of Christ.

He designed us to follow Him,

and in the following, that we should

find fellowship with other members of

His Body.

In this broken, imperfect world,

the reality of that is often sadly missed.

And we dare not make an idol of fellowship

(its existence of lack thereof!),

but God's heart is that we should long

for one another in Him.

I recently read confirmation
 of this in 1 Thes. 2 & 3 as Paul

wrote to his beloved brothers and sisters

of his longing to see them,

but how satan prevented it.

He spoke lovingly of his time with them,

and the time of teaching and soul care that

was had.

It made my own heart leap
with gladness

to know once again
that God does

indeed include in His plan
for His people,

the fellowship of the saints.

I appreciate fellowship
with many people

from many places of the globe...

people whose hearts are fixed on Him

who made us and called us out of

darkness into His marvelous light...

people who are careful in their walk,

who choose simple living in Christ,

and who grow steadily upward in

step with Him.

And my heart is glad...

Just last week, I was privileged to sit
with a group of ladies who
clearly delighted in each other's company,
and had a love for the Lord that was
a real encouragement to me.

It takes courage to mingle closely with others.
It takes a certain dying to myself to be
vulnerable and open to letting others in
when so many times things have not worked
out comfortably in relationships past.

But God asks us to love one another,
and even says more than once that
a sure mark of a follower of Christ
is her love for the believers.