By Justin Rossow, with an instruction video by Karen Hunter
We follow Jesus better when we follow Him together. That means we all have something to learn, and something to share.
But how do you share words of hope and encouragement in a time of social distancing? How can you share what Jesus has been doing in your life with someone else?
Karen Hunter, one of the illustrators for the When from Death I’m Free hymn journal for Holy Week, has an excellent suggestion.
Think about what you have seen and heard this Lent and Easter Season. Look back at verses you circled in your Bible or notes you took from an online sermon or blog that really encouraged you. Find one thing that made a difference in your faith or life as you have experienced this Lent and Easter. Now share that experience with a friend.
If you have been part of the When from Death I’m Free Next Step Community, look back over the pages you engaged most with. Check any notes from the Next Step Podcast. Find something that was especially meaningful to you.
Maybe it was a visual faith experiment or a particular hymn verse. Maybe it was a specific thought or Scripture reading. Maybe the time you set aside in God’s presence helped you see something you had forgotten or had never seen before.
Take one thing—any one thought, or drawing, or reading, or hymn—that had an impact on you, and share it with someone else. Try to express why it was meaningful for you. Invite them to run an experiment and see if it might be meaningful for them, too.
I like Karen’s idea for printing out a picture of one of your pages in the hymn journal. If you don’t have a scanner at home, your smart phone will probably do. And if your printer doesn’t do color, most pharmacies can print anything you email them. Many even print directly from your phone! So while you are out getting essentials, get some prints as well!
Take time to make a card by hand. Or share a picture on Facebook. Or add an image to an email that invites a friend to hold onto the same Bible verse that has helped you get through the day. By sharing even one thing with someone else, you plant that Word deeper in your own heart and life. You also extend an invitation for someone else to begin to wonder what Jesus is up to in their life.
Following Jesus can be scary and exciting and difficult and rewarding; and it’s just more fun when you share the experience with others. In this time of Covid-19, we need all the community we can muster. We’re in this together, even at a distance. So take time to share in some way–any way!–something that has been meaningful for you. You will get more out of that experience of sharing than you realize. And that person you share it with may just need exactly what you have to share!
We follow Jesus better when we follow Him together. Thanks for sharing this leg of the journey with us; may Jesus guide and bless your next step on this adventure of faith!
PS. If you don’t know who to share your story with, share it with us! At Next Step Press we love to hear what Jesus is doing in your life as you take a small next step following Him.
You can email us at Curator@findmynextstep.org or, if you make a card like Karen, you can mail it to the address below. We would love to hear from you!
Next Step Press
1764 South Hughes Road
Brighton, MI 48114