The Value of a Friend

Today's Verses: Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV)

9 Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their work:
10 If one falls down,
his friend can help him up.
But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!
11 Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
12 Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

God not only created us to love Him, but he also created us to love each other.

Today's Comments:

There is no question in my mind that we were made for each other. Lately, my friend Greg and I have been discussing theology via email. Greg is Roman Catholic. Our more recent emails have been discussing the church. And reading this verse, I am reminded especially that the church is a major element in the social order that God created. While Greg and I disagree with respect to functional aspects (the Roman Catholics suggest that the church is the final authority with respect to the interpretation of scripture, while the Protestants view the church as the vehicle through which teaching occurs and scripture interprets itself), there is no question that God created the church so that we could worship Him and learn about Him together.

Some, like my ex-girlfriend, sometimes argue that the church has so corrupted itself that one should be able to take it or leave it. But I cannot agree. The Israelites became so apostatized that maybe God should have abandoned them, too, but He did not. They were created for a purpose, and the Church was created for a purpose: to be a community of believers who, in unity, lift each other up, keep each other safe, and under God's protective umbrella, defend each other from the power of evil .