Tomorrow morning, I'm going to go on a 20-mile bike ride, mostly uphill, with my brother, but I'm not entirely sure why I'm going. It's not so I can log a bunch of miles for May Is Bike Month. I haven't been very competitive about that this year. It isn't for the challenge. I've done similar rides before, so I won't be setting any records. I'm not even doing it for fun, because a bike ride that long, on a day that's supposed to get pretty warm, doesn't sound like a lot of fun to me. I suppose I'm only going because my brother invited me.
Any of the aforementioned reasons would be good and valid ones. I'm sure I'll have fun while I'm out there (assuming we complete our ride before the heat of the day sets in), I'll enjoy the challenge, and logging all those miles when I get home will feel like a real accomplishment. At the end of the day, I'm sure I'll be glad I went, even though, if not for my brother's invitation, I wouldn't be going at all.
Invitations to come to church or church activities can be similarly powerful. There are many good reasons to go to such functions, but sometimes, those reasons don't seem like enough on their own. Sometimes, people know they should go to a church event, and they may even know that they'd enjoy it if they did go, but they still might not make the decision to go unless a friend or neighbor invited them.
Going on that bike ride will be an enriching experience, but it took a personal invitation to convince me to go. I wonder what enriching experiences our friends would be willing to join us in, if we were willing to invite them.
1 comment:
Good food for thought! and action, I suppose ;)
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