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“Two Are Better Than One”
Two Are Better Than One
Wade Webster
For the last several weeks we have been discussing some things that we have learned or can learn about worship from the gym. I am convinced that in just a short time, we will all be in better shape spiritually. In the first lesson, we noticed that we usually feel better after we go to the gym/worship. In the second lesson, we noticed that going to the gym/worship helps us to make better choices. In the third lesson, we noticed that going to the gym/worship needs to be about growth and not about comparison. In the fourth lesson, we noticed that the gym/worship meets a number of needs. In the fifth lesson, we noticed the need to avoid clanging. In this lesson, we will see that two are better than one.
I go to the gym alone. I always have. However, I see many who don’t. They come to the gym with someone or meet up with someone at the gym. I can see some definite advantages to this approach. On days when you might not otherwise go to the gym, having someone to remind you or to push you to go can make the difference. Not only can someone help us get to the gym, they can make the whole gym experience more enjoyable and profitable. For one thing, they make the time pass faster. Time always passes faster with good conversation. For another thing, they provide additional motivation. Friends encourage us and push us to be better. They know us and they hold us accountable. Finally, having a gym partner saves us when the weight becomes too heavy for us. One of the most encouraging things at the gym is seeing one person lifting weights and another person spotting for them. If the person lifting has trouble getting the weight up, the spotter steps in to help them.
Like the gym, two are better than one when it comes to worship. In the long ago, Solomon wrote, “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” (Eccl. 4:9-12). Although Solomon wasn’t specifically talking about worship in this text, his words easily apply. There are benefits to having a buddy, whether it’s in the gym or in worship. Friends make us better. In the book of Proverbs, Solomon wrote, “As iron sharpens iron, So a man sharpens the countenance of his friend” (Prov. 27:17). Friends push us to go to worship and to grow in our walk with Christ. In Hebrews, we read, “And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching” (Heb. 10:24-25). There are few things more comforting in life than to know that you have a brother or sister to help you when the burdens of life become too heavy for you. Again, Solomon wrote, “A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity” (Prov. 17:17). The Apostle Paul added, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ” (Gal. 6:2).
As we get ready to worship this week, let’s invite someone to go to worship with us or to meet us there. While we are there, let’s seek out someone that we can encourage and who can do the same for us.
