Jesus told a story in Luke 18 to illustrate how salvation works. There were two men praying in church. One was a religious teacher, who spent his entire life making sure that he followed every rule of his religion. He even did more than was required, to make sure that he was better than other people. He said to God in a loud voice: “I’m really glad I’m not like other people,” as he glanced around and spotting a tax collector praying in a dark corner of the church. “I fast twice a week and I give more generously than necessary to the church.”

Friend, there is a difference between solitude as directed by the Lord for His purpose and isolating ourselves from others and most importantly from Him. The Lord created us above all else to love and worship and honor and serve Him with all our hearts forever and to love others as ourselves. Our greatest love and intimacy is to be with God almighty through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. And our second greatest love and intimacy is to be in relationship with our fellow humans. There is a time and purpose for us to spend time on our own, but never in disobedience to Christ. And never apart from Christ.