[Biblemat] A) OUR RELATIONSHIP

[J5827Sasser at wmconnect.com]

Brethren and Friends, Jim Sasser here.  A very good Friday morn-
ing to each and everyone.  May God bless you and yours.  Here
is an article from my files:

OUR RELATIONSHIP

     Do you need your toes?  How about your eyes?  Can your
toes tell your eyes, "We don't need you?"  We all know the ab-
surdity of that -- which is exactly the point Paul makes in 1
Cor. 12:21.  There is interdependence on all members of our
physical bodies.

     Even so, there is a great need for each member of the body of Christ.  
We cannot do without each other.  There ought to be interdependence on each 
other.  It ought to be
when one hurts others hurt, when one rejoices others rejoice.
Do we really feel that need for one another?

     Consider -- the weak need the strong because the strong
make the weak stronger.  The weak need the strong in order
to follow their example.  The weak need the strong to lean on
when they are weak.  John Mark needed Barnabas.  Barnabas
needed Paul.  Peter needed Paul.  Paul needed Onesiphorus.
David needed Jonathon and Naomi needed Ruth.  In the Bible
there was not dependence from one another but a reliance
on one another.

     Further, no one has talent enough to do everything.  In
Corinth one had the gift of tongues while another had the gift
of prophecy.  The person with the gift of tongues could not
say to the one who had the gift of prophecy, "I do not need
you."  Both were necessary for the development of the gospel.  So it is with 
members in a local fellowship.

     Song leaders by themselves will not work.  Elders by them-
selves have no flock to shepherd.  Teachers without willing
students only talk to empty walls.  The fellowship works when
we all work with each other.  Titus and Timothy needed Paul.
The elders at Ephesus needed the flock.  Your talents may
not be mine and vice versa.  We fill up what another lacks to
make the whole.

     Also, no one person can serve enough.  We each have
limitations on time and opportunities.  But if we put those
altogether there are many.  Think how much service can be
done when we all do it together as opposed to going it alone.
There is no end to the work that can be done.  When we invest service into 
just the hands of a few we do not utilize
our resources as good stewards.

     None ought to feel that they have no place among God's
people.  There is room for all and a place for all to be of help
and an asset.  We need one another to fulfill the work God
has planned for us to do for without even the least there will
be a deficiency.  Truly, we fulfill one another when we offer
ourselves for the benefit of all.   --- Rickie Jenkins in Biblical
Insights, Vol. 6, No. 11, Nov. 2006.   </HTML>
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