Well, one day, all the troops were out hiking
and came across the tracks. They decided that it would be fun to
have a competition to see which troop could walk the longest on the tracks.
And so each troop lined up single file and tried to balance themselves
along the track. Well, it wasn’t very long before the first boy lost his
balance and fell off. As you can imagine, this made the other boys very
nervous and soon each member of the troop had been de-railed. The troop
that went last won the competition. In fact, they went ten times farther
than any troop had gone. Do you know how they did it? Instead of lining
up single file, they put one half of the troop on one rail and the other
half of the troop on the other rail across from them.
And then they joined hands in the middle for
support and balance. That’s how they could go farther than anyone else.
We can walk best in life when we walk together with others. We can best follow Jesus when we walk together with other Christians. That’s why we have the church. It’s a chance to join hands with those in our "troop" who are making the same journey of faith that we are.
Let’s pray and give thanks that God has
given us the church.
Dear God, thank You that You do not ask
us to follow You all by ourselves, but that You have given us a troop,
a team, a family . . . the church. Thank You for our friends who are striving
to follow You as we are. They remind us of Your love and friendship. In
Jesus’ Name. Amen.
Rich Knight