Don’t Go It Alone
This blog is designed to give people an inner look at a devotional life. Taking time each day to spend time with the Lord. The hope is if you travel on this journey with Rev. Jacob Shaw, you may be more inclined to spend time with the Lord as well. I encourage the use of a devotional, a scripture reading and prayer, then finally a song, hymn or selection of poetry to tie it all together.
Today's
devotional is taken from: Vujicic, Nick. Limitless Devotions for a
Ridiculously Good Life. Colorado Springs, CO: Waterbrook Press, 2013. pp 83-85.
Opening Thought: Humans are wonderfully complex; we can do a lot of things on
our own. As a little bit of a loner, I know that better than many, but I will certainly
affirm John Donne’s words, “no man is an island.” Jesus created us to love the
self but also to love the other; the foundations to a balanced society. We must care
for the internal in balance with the external. Thus, no one should go it alone. Which
means if you feel alone, seek community, and if you see someone alone offer your community to them.
The devotional begins with:
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, [NIV]
Two are better than one, because they have a good return for
their work:
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pit the man who falls and has no one to help him up!
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.
Second Thought: One of the things I find a strong value in is partnerships. We
have different partnerships in our lives. Sometimes they are life spouses, sometimes
business partners, other partners in arms, and friendships. When we are with
people that we mutual benefit and support, we need to be equally yoked. To be
yoked, is an old farming term where a mount was placed on the necks and
shoulders of animals of burden. Farmers would yoke together two animals to help
pull farming equipment. If your animals were not of equal strength the lines
for your fields would curve as one animal would pull faster and easier than the
other. Thus, to be equally yoked means – straight and perfect lines because your strengths or equal and complimentary. When we do
not yoke ourselves with people like ourselves, kindred spirits – if you would,
then we will find our lives going off course. I have met a number of people in
my day who feel their lives are in chaos and they do not know why, but when looking
at who they are partnered with in one of their avenues of life, you can find
that they may be yoked with decent people, but people of a different strengths that do not work well together, and they
are pulling against each other. Diversity is great, but for those who are
walking close with you, having someone with the same trajectory is the most optimal.
Continual Work: Who your yoked with in life matters. You are not an island, so
you need support, but you also need support that will move with you, not
against you. Find that balance. If you have a spouse or friends that you find
you are at odds with, maybe find a mutual target, like a devotional, or study. Put
yourself on a small-scale yoking task, then expand it from there.
What Rev. Jacob is Working On: My wife and I are like two side of the same
coin, similar but different. I am a feeling type who exercises my feelings
through thought, and she is a thinking type who exercises her thoughts through
her feelings. It is a wonderful balance but challenging to say the least. We
haven’t always had the perfect marriage, but I would say it is one for the
ages. Our individual qualities that make us unique, compliment the other, so we
do seem to walk in straight lines in our fields, for the most part. That is what
I think is the truest balance, you want to be yoked with someone that you do walk
straight lines with, but if you do happen to get of course, you need someone
who you can also pull you back onto the course. So for me I am going to try to
take time today to appreciate who I am yoked with in marriage.
Scripture time: 2 Corinthians 6:14
Paul tells us that we
should not be yoked to unbelievers, “for what do righteousness and wickedness
have in common”. As we live in a secular society, or at least one that has a leaning
to secularization, we have a wide variety of people in our communities that are
not Christian believers. Some Christians will take this verse to imply that you
should endeavor to make all relationships with people only Christian relationships, i.e., if they
needed a plumber – they would find a Christian plumber. I personally would
never take it that far, if I need a plumber, then I would want the best rated
plumber for the best price, if they are Christian, great, if not, okay. With
that said, I do not believe I would have been able to marry a woman that wasn’t
Christian, my wife is Roman Catholic, and for me having that shared faith is essential
for marriage, a household and raising children. Now my best friend of many
years in an agnostic, and generally doesn’t care too much about religion, though
he does enjoy the debates, but even though he does not have the same
appreciation of faith as I do, we are yoked in different ways, we have a similar
sense of humor, we have a generally similar moral and ethical framework, we
have a similar upbringing in class and demographic. This business of yoking is
a challenge in today’s age but it is something to ponder over.
Closing Words: I hope you enjoyed and were lifted by this devotional time; it
is truly important to take time for God each day. By doing so, you welcome God
into your life, and in turn you will be able to better see the world through
the eyes of God, rather than God through the world's eyes.
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