Cleo (our dog) and Boots (our cat) are very needy, especially first thing in the morning! Cleo wants to get up when I get up, but then she’s often desperate to get back to Jen and our other dog. Boots…he’s desperate, but I’m not always sure what he even wants! They do both love to be around us.
Being around the right people (and pets?) does make a difference.
Luke 24:22-24 says, “Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; 23 And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. 24 And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not.”
Jesus walked for a while with these 2 guys on the road to Emmaus after His resurrection. I’ve always known it was such a privilege for them to see Jesus face-to-face after He died and rose again. But I normally just read over the fact that it was people of “our company,” people who were “with us” that first saw Jesus. Those 2 intentionally spent time with other Jesus-followers.
Their faith was strengthened by spending time with people of faith, people who sought for Jesus. Yes it was amazing for them to see Jesus, but their faith had already been strengthened by fellow believers.
And that’ll work for us as well. Let’s intentionally allow people of faith to influence us, and let’s intentionally be people of faith who influence others.