“Only Luke is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).

In the course of our Christian lives we meet many different people. The relationships we form shape our lives in significant ways. Paul was writing his last letter and was about to die. What was amazing to me is the attention he gave to the people in his life.

I trust that everyone has a Luke in his life—someone who will be faithfully by your side when others are distracted or just absent. He was a friend to Paul who was closer than a brother. Mark is an interesting character. He had abandoned Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:13), going home before the mission was completed. Paul, offended by that, refused to take him along on his second missionary journey and that led to the split between Paul and Barnabas. Mark subsequently traveled with Peter.

Here, Paul points out an important truth. Never burn your bridges behind you because God may restore a broken relationship. “Get Mark…he is helpful to me,” says so much about disappointing connections in our lives. God has a wonderful way of putting back together things that have been broken. That includes friendships!