Working Together

Stay with them. Joshua 1:14

Two and a half of the tribes of Israel could take possession of their land without fighting. God had given the Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh the land east of the Jordan, where the Israelites were already camped. It would have been easy for those Israelites to stay behind and take care of their own homesteads, but their work was not done. Although they had their land, God called them to go with the other tribes who hadn’t taken possession of their land, help them conquer it, and stay with them until the job was finished.

This biblical story is an illustration of something very important to God: he wants people who are committed to helping and cooperating with one another to accomplish what he has called them to do.

I remember well the day this really hit home for me. I was standing in our new church building while it was still under construction, when a mother and her two young daughters arrived to take a look at the progress. As I talked with the three of them, one of the young ladies asked me, “How many people will it take to clean up all this dirt on the floor?”

It occurred to me that it was going to take all of us doing our part to get the work done. In order to build a church that could reach our entire community, we were all going to have to give of our time, talents, and treasure as we worked together to see the project through to its completion. The lesson from that little girl’s question has stuck with me ever since.

How many people do you think it will take to win our world for Christ? More importantly, in what ways can we as God’s chosen people work together to accomplish that task?

Lord, give me strength and courage to help my brothers in Christ who are attempting to do the things you have called them to do.