Togetherness

Did you ever hear newlyweds reminded that together they could accomplish more than the combination of each of them separately? God did not intend for man to live alone. God gave the first man a “helpmeet,” one who could not only help meet all his needs, but one who could help him be all that he could be.

When Christ was on earth, He lived in the company of His family, and then His family of followers. He occasionally withdrew for times of solitude, but not for long. He always rejoined His friends in order to accomplish His mission. Even though He could have survived in isolation, He chose not to do so. He came to be “with us.” That’s the meaning of my favorite name for Jesus: Emmanuel, “God with us.”

A hermit goes off to live by himself and doesn’t care to spend time with anyone else. Once in a while I entertain the thought of being like that, but I know that’s not wise, and I couldn’t really live like that for very long. We were meant to live and serve with others.

Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, NKJV – “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.” 

Psalm 34:3, NKJV – “Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together.”

Psalm 133:1, NKJV – “Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!“

Isaiah 1:18, NKJV – “Come now, and let us reason together,” says the Lord, “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall be as wool.”

Matthew 18:20, NKJV – “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” 

Luke 13:34, NKJV – “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, but you were not willing!“

Ephesians 2:21-22, NIV – “In him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” 

So you see? Togetherness is God’s plan. Isn’t it a great one?