Read the transcript from today's video devotional.
I'll be honest, this is one of those verses that I hear mostly spoken at a wedding. The reason being is you have this couple that is coming together. You have a man and a woman that are bringing their lives together to be unified in the sight of God.
One of the things that, as a pastor—and I've heard other people talk about—is how that union between those two is strengthened when it's not just two strands, but it's a triple stranded braid, that the third strand is to weave yourself around Christ at the center.
The Strengthened Cord
A lot of times this verse will be referred to, and that cord of three strands is now strengthened because these two people have fortified the chances for their union to flourish around Him. That's a beautiful thing, and I think it's absolutely important to point to that.
One of the things I don't want us to miss is what is said right before we find this verse, because it's not just meant for couples.
A Verse for Community, Not Just Couples
It is for those of us who are running together in the way of faith. That is, we seek to live and to honor God with our lives here on earth. It's important for us to know that the journey of faith is not individualistic. It is meant to happen in community.
Right before verse 12 that we've just read together, you'll see that there is a caution: "Woe to the person who falls and stumbles when they are by themselves, and doesn't have someone else to help pick them up."
The Practical Nature of Community
There's a real practical nature to what this verse and the surrounding verses say. It's just better to have more help when you're trying to accomplish something.
Imagine trying to move furniture in your house. There have been times where my bride will ask me to move something from one side of the room to the other. Because I'm the guy, I need to try to get in there and figure out how to do it. It's always helpful when I can call my neighbor to come grab the other side of this table and we can carry it together.
We Are Better Together
It's that simple. We are better together in community. When we have companionship, carrying the load of what it means for us to live out the way of faith becomes lightened. We have encouragement. We have challenge. We have support. But we also have what the verse right before ours specifies—that when we have a companion and somebody we are living and working and walking alongside of, when we trip and stumble and fall, we have somebody to help pick us up.
We Are All Tempted
The reason I think it's important to point that out is that if we're completely honest, even those of us who have dedicated our lives and our way toward following Jesus with everything we have, we're still tempted and we still struggle in this world. That's the fact of our humanity, and because the Bible tells us all throughout Scripture that our flesh is prone to wander—our own desires are tempted to go away from the way of Jesus.
Community Strengthens Our Faith
It's always helpful to have community, to have companions, to have brothers and sisters to help pick us up and encourage us when things get hard, or maybe when we even stumble.
I don't know where you find yourself at today, but be encouraged that this whole Jesus thing is meant to be communal and not individualistic. We need one another to encourage, to strengthen, to fortify, to support one another as we walk this out in the way of Jesus.
Thank God today for the people in your life that are encouraging to you. If you don't have those clearly in your mind, begin to pray that God would bring people—companions—to walk this journey out so that this cord is strengthened in the way of Jesus.
