The Knot part 5
We're all in this together. I've spent the last four days really focusing on a one-on-one relationship with God. Holding on to Him and Him holding on to us. But to end this Rant series I want to shift focus a little bit. Look at Ecclesiastes 4:12 (NLT), "A person standing alone can be attacked and defeated, but two can stand back-to-back and conquer. Three are even better, for a triple-braided cord is not easily broken." We're all in this together. Did I mention that? So it's important that we tie ourselves together. Embrace the togetherness. I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I'm not for everybody. That I can't do everything. And that's ok. Because I don't have to. I'm not supposed to. And if I'm trying to do something I'm not supposed to be doing, a couple of not great things are happening. 1. I'm not doing it as well as someone else can. And 2. I'm robbing that person of manifesting THEIR destiny. Now, having said that, there are times when you're the only one around and you gotta do what you gotta do. Do the best you can with what you've got in a given situation. But we're talking about excellence here. We're talking about the More Excellent Way that is Jesus. We're talking about each person being a different member of that one body of Christ. So just do your job. And let the other members do their job. Tie yourself to your neighbor in such a way that you're back-to-back with them. "I've got your back." And if I've got your back, and you've got mine, neither one of us has to worry about ourselves. That's a good place to be. That's a SAFE place to be. Especially when you factor in Matthew 18:20 (NLT), "For where two or three gather ogether as my followers, I am there among them." And the thing I really like about this verse is that even if you're all alone... you're not all alone. Because of the cross and through the Holy Spirit, God lives in us. So that's your two right there. You and God. The Father and the Son. So you never have to worry about being "alone." Someone--your heavenly Father, the Creator of all the world--has your back. The best way to manifest this truth is by having your neighbor's back. That's all I'm trying to say. God works in mysterious ways because God works through people, and people are mysterious. People are messy. People don't do what you think they should do all the time. But that doesn't mean you immediately give up on them, either. Sometimes getting to the end of your rope means letting your neighbor be who HE is instead of who YOU think he should be. And sometimes you need to tie a knot in your rope in order to LET him be who he is (or who he thinks he is). Shining the light of the world is the only we can show people who they REALLY are. Shining the light of love. Loving people just as they are is the only way to truly tie ourselves together. And that knot--that rope--is Jesus. Wherever two or three are gathered... HE holds us together! And a triple-braided cord is not easily broken. There's strength in it. We think we have to do it all, but we really really don't. Jesus already DID it all. Holding on to Him is really HIM holding on to us. Holding on to HIM is really US holding on to each other. God and people. Loving God and loving people. Loving God BY loving people. That's the key and the secret to life. It's all about love. Love is the triple-braided cord that holds us together. You... me... and Jesus. Three cords. Not easily broken. Especially when there's a knot tied in it, and ESPECIALLY when it is God who tied the knot!