And that’s often why we find the summer so hard don’t we? We’ve headed home to Bournemouth and all of a sudden our Christian mates are 200 miles away in Bangor or Bolton. And our drive to be holy peters out; our desire to spend time with God’s people at church wanes; our delight in reading His Word fades.
So let’s use the means of grace God has given us to keep going as Christians and make it our aim to keep in contact this summer with our Christian friends.
Even if your experience of home is a doddle – you have a good church and lots of Christian mates – for the sake of your brother or sister who lives in the Outer Hebrides with a couple of sheep for company, keep in contact.
Plan a Skype chat (put some dates in the diary now or it’ll never happen). Aim to text one member of your small group every week. Have a Whatsapp conversation when you’re sunbathing on the beach in Bangalore. Phone a friend at 6pm on a Sunday evening when small groups normally take place. Write a postcard from Paros encouraging your mate in Prestatyn to keep persevering with his local church.
If you’re anything like me, it’s easy to get half way through August and complain that no one has rung you yet this holiday. In which case, we need to remember Vaughan Roberts’ advice in our church family book of the summer – that to have good friends, we’ve got to first be a good friend.
4 months is a long time to go solo as a Christian. Don’t be a lone ranger. Pick up the phone.
