Daily Devotional

Have you ever felt abandoned? I remember that's how I felt after high school. My high school years were some of the best times of my life. I had a lot of really close friends, or so I thought. I enjoyed spending time with those people, yet I was so focused on the friends I had and the good times we were having, that I never truly planned for life after high school. I just assumed that we were having such a good time during high school, that those good times would continue to roll after high school at Fresno City College. However, I quickly realized that wasn't the case when most of my close friends began going away to different places around the state/country to go to college. And a year after graduating high school, I remember sitting around with an egg on my face feeling abandoned by those I felt closest to. Now responsibility aside, the feeling of being abandoned by someone close to you is a horrible feeling.

The Bible tells us, woe to those who are alone when they fall and that's exactly how I felt. Now obviously, there is greater power with two than there is with one, but the Bible also says that a cord of three strands is even greater. These strands represent our relationships with each other. When we are in a community with each other because of our relationship with Jesus, we are strong. We conquer the difficulty and the attacks that we are sure to face in this life by enduring together. On my wrist, I'm currently wearing a pink bracelet that I never take off. It reminds me of the life-threatening journey with breast cancer, that my wife had to endure that started almost exactly three years ago. Imprinted on the bracelet are the words, "Together We Fight" and I'm so often reminded of all the ways that my church community supported our family during our greatest difficulty. So it is through personal experience that I say that we need each other.

The Bible tells us in Galatians 6:2 to bear one another's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ. As a community, may we answer the call we have by not simply recognizing our need for each other but by going out of our way to identify someone in our sphere of influence who needs help shouldering their burdens. Moving forward this holiday season, may we ask how can we simply lighten the load for someone we claim to love and call family? Again, we need each other!

English Standard Version (ESV)
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.