WHY HUG WHEN YOU CAN TWEET!!!

This morning is my daughter-in-law’s birthday, so I posted a birthday wish on her Facebook page and posted how much we love her on my status update, for the entire world to see.  Hey don’t judge me, I also sent her a birthday card and a check!!!  Later, I sent an email to check on a sick friend, posted an encouraging Bible verse and texted a man to see if we could go up to the hospital and pray with him and his wife.  Surprised???  We are actually considering getting in our car, driving down the highway to a hospital and physically touching a person as we pray.  Sad, really how rare personal contact has become.

Most of us are becoming increasingly accustomed to a “Sterile Relationship” world.  Just log on to Facebook, you can know more about a person that you have never met, than you know about someone you have spent a lifetime with; that is unless you check out their Facebook page updates regularly.  I email a joke instead of sharing a cup of coffee and a good laugh.  I text a “good morning” rather than take the time to actually hear the voice of my loved one over the phone.  If I’m really pressed for time and still feel the need to express my thoughts, I can “Tweet” in 140 characters or less.  The real beauty of a “Cyber-hug,” it is totally germ-free, I don’t have to be personally involved and I only need to be interrupted at my convenience.

 Has my relationship with God morphed into a “Sterile, Cyber” relationship along with all the rest?  There are days when I am “encouraged” by an emailed devotional or a status update scripture posting when my soul is starving for a meal full of the “Meat of the Word.”  God is waiting with an overflowing basket of blessings for me to take time for a little chat but I tweet a 140- character prayer with my most “pressing” desires prioritized instead.  How ready I am to comment, “praying  for you” but never consider that maybe my best “prayer” could involve a little action; perhaps being the one through which God fills the need.  Now that’s a novel idea!  It’s much easier to email ((hugs)) than actually put my arms around a hurting person or post an emoticon with a tear rather than actually weep with those who weep.

The Bible tells us that Jesus WEPT, He was MOVED with compassion, He TOUCHED the sick and wounded; He WENT out of His way to SPEAK to a woman at the well or GIVE LIFE to the person in the funeral procession.  How different our Sunday School lessons would be if Jesus had “tweeted” life-giving water to the woman at the well or posted a word of encouragement to Blind Bartimaeus.   Sometimes loving people can get messy; ask the man who received spit-filled mud in his eyes or the disciples who had their nasty, stinky feet washed by the Master.  I want to break out of the “Sterile” world I have created for myself.  I want to touch more, hug often, give a genuine smile instead of an LOL and say “I LOVE YOU” face to face.  Most of all, I desire to feel the personal touch of my Savior as I take the time, sit at His feet, lay my head in His lap and linger in His presence.