Game Night

Bible: Hebrews 10

Remember when you were little and had a bedtime? And the biggest dream you had was staying up late. Begging your parents for “five more minutes”.

I remember my parents came up with an idea, simple, yet brilliant…“Game Night”. Game night worked like this - My brother, sister, and I would rotate each week with one of us getting to stay up late with mom and dad playing a game. It was magical. To have your brother and sister have to go to bed, but you got to stay up a whole extra hour, sometimes longer if you chose a game like Monopoly. WOW.

It was so simple and yet it was one of my favorite things growing up. I couldn’t tell you who won most of the time, hopefully it was me. But it was getting to spend quality time with my parents, laughing and talking about school, friends, and life that I loved the most.

Last week I wrote about how God is using Covid to bring us to a new normal, and this is going to make us leave things behind. But I also believe there’s things that God is doing during Covid that we are meant to continue. One of the things that I have loved during this time is the intentionality in relationships. I’ve heard story after story of people getting creative to be able to see each other, whether it’s via zoom or social distancing in front yards. When before there would be one excuse or something else we would prioritize. I’ve connected with friends more in the last month and have had amazing conversations. Church small groups have been growing even though they’re online. Families are creating game nights, movie nights, and doing more school and life together. 

We haven’t been able to “meet” together in person, yet we have been meeting together with more intentionality and depth than we did before. Hebrews 10:24-25, “And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

We have the danger, as things start to open up again, to go back to our “habit”. Not meeting together with intentionality, or even meeting at all. My hope though - that we continue to realize just how much we value relationship, that we continue putting in the effort to reach out and see how people are truly doing, that we continue to go beyond just meeting together and truly seek to to grow in love and good works with one another.

God created us for relationship, to love one another as he loves us. And God’s love is selfless, it goes beyond what’s convenient and easy. Because it’s going to be easier as things start to open up again to meet, but it’s also going to be easy to get back to the way things were before Covid. Where we would exchange a quick “Hello, how’s it going” and move along. Let’s remember to keep encouraging one another, to keep stirring up one another to love and good works.

Prayer: Pray for God to continue using this time to grow relationships. Pray for wisdom and guidance moving forward.

Worship: “Good Grace” Hillsong United -https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EhKSRIvDFI0

-Zach