A FEW THOUGHTS ON TODAYS READING...
We read in Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, "Two are better than one, Because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, For he has no one to help him up. Again, if two lie down together, they will keep warm; But how can one be warm alone? Though one may be overpowered by another, two can withstand him. And a threefold cord is not quickly broken."
This last verse is often used in marriage ceremonies signifying that if a rope-maker wanted to make a rope that would last, they would wind a third cord in the middle of the two. With marriages this signifies the binding strength of Jesus Christ in our marriage. We also read in Matthew 18:20, "For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them." Notice when Jesus began to send out His disciples to the unknowing world, we read in Luke 10:1, "After these things the Lord appointed seventy others also, and sent them two by two before His face into every city and place where He Himself was about to go." When the gospel message of Jesus spread in the early church, they always went out in pairs: Peter and John, Paul and Barnabas, Paul and Silas, Barnabas and Mark, etc. It is much harder to fall off or be picked off when you are accountable and are not travelling solo. We read in Deuteronomy 25:17-18, what happens in real life to stragglers and those doing it alone, "Remember what Amalek did to you on the way as you were coming out of Egypt, how he met you on the way and attacked your rear ranks, all the stragglers at your rear, when you were tired and weary; and he did not fear God."
The Bible clearly shows that two are better than one, yet so many feel that this does not apply to their time in the Bible. We read in Proverbs 27:17, "As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend." Our walk in faith is not an "I" event but a "We" event. God does not call us to simply take it in, grow individually, and keep it to ourselves. He has given us each other for a reason. Fellowship is not just a bunch of Christians hanging out together talking about sports and their kids. True fellowship is centered around the Word of God, which is what separates us from all others that gather. Jesus' final Commission in Matthew 28:18-20, centers around making "disciples of all the nations". This cannot take place unless we are willing to actually disciple others. This is not an accidental approach, but a purposeful decision on our parts to come alongside one another as we grow in His Word. When one begins to fall off in their reading at the end of Exodus, we can be right there to point out the relevance and keep them going. When we begin to fall off in the middle of Leviticus, they can lift us up and keep us going. Satan, the world, and our flesh (the three enemies of God) much prefer to attack the straggler. Walking together in the Word of God is a much more difficult obstacle for the enemies of God.
THIS WEEKS MEMORY VERSE
As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend. ~Proverbs 27:17

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK
Believe God’s love and power more than you believe your own feelings and experiences. Your rock is Christ, and it is not the rock that ebbs and flows but the sea.
— Samuel Rutherford (c. 1600-1661)








"Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths." Proverbs 3:5-6
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