The Loner

“There is one alone, and there is not a second; yea, he hath neither child nor brother: yet is there no end of all his labour; neither is his eye satisfied with riches; neither saith he, For whom do I labour, and bereave my soul of good?

This is also vanity, yea, it is a sore travail.”

Ecclesiastes 4:8

The introverted sway of a self-entertained world produces ineffective people, who will go to their grave thinking they were something, when they were nothing.

I never gave the falling flake a second thought. Its color had not turned my head nor had it given me pause. I stepped over the darkening leaf, and went on my way; in a few hours I returned, and it was gone.

What difference does one falling leaf make?

Answer: none.

Most saved men will exist as a solitary, trembling, fading, falling leaf unless they get determined to find and do God’s will for their life.

For a strong-willed few who rise above the recliner, they will become currency for funding the world system that created them. They will be expected to ‘pay back’ in taxes, reunions, school spirit, volunteerism, and a healthy amount of personal debt. They will occasionally break free to go on a vacation trip, and that will satisfy their urge to ever do or be anything different.

They have access to all the pictures they could want: photos of places, snapshots of people, videos of danger/adventure/excitement. The television of the internet (and they are virtually the same thing) will water their eyes, fulfilling their lust of other things, even reinventing the meaning of ‘relationship.’ They will live and die within 50 miles of where they came into this world. They will die as they were born: dependent, poor, naked, alone.

“But I made memories! But I believed in myself! But I did so much good! But I am proud of who I am!”

You will leave no legacy, no change, because you neglected others, and God’s will for you to minister to others.

Who are the lonely ones?

• There is a young lady whose phone is filled with beautiful pictures of herself that no one will ever see. She is happy with who she is, but she is sits solitary in her estimation.

• There is a man who refuses to be a part of a local church because he can spot its flaws. They can never measure up to what a church ought to be. He is right- Oh so right! But his opinion echoes in the emptiness around him.

• The intelligent technocrat is a pillar in his online community. He is brilliant; he is organized. He does not think he is alone, he has ‘friends’. But they exist only in the limits of his battery power and internet connection. When the lights go out, no one will be there for him.

Somewhere along their journey, these people wanted to change the world. But they are so stuck on themselves that their influence will never leave their front porch.

They will just be another member of the human race, quoting all the philosophy: “you do you,” and “just be myself,” and “comfortable in my own skin.”

Picture a different future for them with me. Allow them a chance to change, to submit to the call of Christianity and ask yourself:

What grace might she channel if she gave herself to care for the elderly, the needy saints? 
Who would he be able to build up if he chose to edify his fellow church members instead of tear them down? 
What influence would the man behind the computer wield, if he chose instead to send a personal letter to a shut in?

Is it their fault; for being such loners? No one would blame them for being that way. But the God that made them wishes they would become someone more. God saved them so that they could be conformed to the image of His Son. A son, or daughter, who would get out of their own head, join hands with God’s people, and make a difference.

“And we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquites, like the wind, have taken us away.
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth himself to take hold of thee:”

Isaiah 64:6b-7a

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