From the Home Place

January 3, 2026

4 a.m., 35 degrees, looking at 55 for a high. I reckon when the sun wakes up, the wind will as well. I’m excited about this first Saturday of a new year because tomorrow is Sunday, my favorite day of the week.

There was a day when Sunday meant that we would take most of a day away from work. There were always chores that needed done, but barring any serious break downs or sickly critters, Sunday was a day for company around our house. No, back then we sure enough didn’t even think of going to church, but we were guaranteed that someone would be at our place for lunch and the rest of the afternoon. I remember several winter Sundays with snowing and blowing conditions, yet there would still be someone at the porch door before noon.

There were a couple of single ranch hands who you could count on being at our table for a meal every Sunday. After our meal with two or twenty extra people, I would head for the kitchen sink to start doing dishes. Mom always said that the dish pan kept my hands soft for the girls. The problem was that I was totally scared to death of girls at that stage of my life. Well, except on Saturday night at a dance, then the girls were much fun, as long as I didn’t have to do much talking. Miss Deb often giggles that she remembers when she couldn’t get me to talk, and now she wishes I’d be quiet. I guess I just have years of conversation stored up inside of me.

After Sunday lunch, there were dishes to do, while the adults had a smoke and a cup of coffee, or a beer. Then after that, the cards would come out, and we would play cards for a couple of hours. By the time I was in junior high, I knew that an hour before dark I would need to start chores. Sometimes one of our guests would help, other times the card party would keep all of the adults tied down. Usually, I was happy to do evening chores by myself, town help was usually more work than help anyway.

Now days, there are no chores and seldom any company. It seems that most folks are too busy to socialize on Sunday afternoon; they would rather shut themselves up in their homes. It’s funny to me that the thing that pre-Christians desire the most is the thing that Christians seem to give the least. Last week, while I was reading some demographics on Wyoming families, I read that 90+ percent of folks who do not know the Lord yet, desire a “meaningful friendship” with those who do know Him.

Like I said, the thing unbelievers desire the most, appears to be the thing that believers give the least. According to the stats, most unbelievers would really like to get together with Christians and just enjoy each other’s fellowship. You know, like playing a game of cards and visiting about life. But then there you go, we Christians go to church, wishing our non-Christian friends would join us at church, when all of the time they would like to join us at our table.

Jesus was fully aware of the value of sharing a meal with those who were far away from Him. Remember Zacheus? Jesus invited Himself over to this man’s home so they could get to know each other. In Luke 19:3 we read, “Zacheus was trying to see who Jesus was.” I’m willing to bet that everyone of us live around folks who are also “trying to see who Jesus” is. But you know what, they most likely are not going to come to our churches to find out who He is. Yet, they would most likely come into our homes for a relaxing meal and visit, to see who Jesus is in our lives. Because, regardless of what we might say, folks still don’t care how much we know, until they know how much we care.

You see my friends, when we Christians speak of “fellowship” we are usually talking about getting together with other Christians. How about fellowshipping with someone who doesn’t know Jesus yet? No sermons, no long prayers, no lectures on behavior, just sharing an easy meal and allowing them to see who Jesus is. The crazy thing is, that if they get a glimpse of who Jesus is in your life, they most like will join you in church to see if Jesus would live in their life.

Yep, a Sunday nap makes me feel better, but it seldom does much to advance the kingdom of God. Instead of griping about the folks who don’t go to church, maybe we should be inviting them to come see Jesus at our house, without having to climb a tree to do so.

Advancing His kingdom with you, Neal