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There is not one of us who has ever been endowed with everything he or she could want for in life.

Themes August 28, 2017

Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12, KJV

There is not one of us who has ever been endowed with everything he or she could want for in life. Somehow, there is always something lacking. And that’s a good thing for us! The aching need for something we lack makes us realize we are human and the exhilarating delight it brings when we receive what we lack makes human existence meaningful!

God does not limit our abilities in order to punish us. He simply wants us to experience the joy that comes from helping one another and the satisfaction of needing someone and being needed. When we understand this, we understand one law of life—that there is a tie between you and me, as there is a connection between heaven and earth. According to the main character of the film The Other Side of Heaven: “To find that connection is to find meaning even in death. To miss that is to miss meaning even in life.” And to fully understand it and to live it is to be among the blessed, those who have found the way to happiness.

Why do you suppose God recorded in Genesis 1:26 these words: “Let us make man in our image, in our likeness”? Does God, who is Omnipotent, Omnipresent, Omniscient, the Beginning and the End, need someone to help Him in His act of creation? Couldn’t He complete the act all by Himself? Moreover, listen to what He says in Genesis 11:6, 7: “The Lord said, ‘If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.’”

Note the phrase “let us.” The speaker here is referring to more than one person. Does God really need someone to help Him out? Or is it His nature to invite, to fellowship, to enter into a relationship? The Bible teems with invitational verses: “Come, all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you rest.” “Come, you blessed of my Father, enter thou into the joy of the Lord.” As God has found joy in the act of fellowship, of working together with others, He wants us to experience that same joy by helping and working with one another.

The walls of Jericho crumbled at the blast of a hundred trumpets and the thump of a thousand feet. Every great heroic act is a product of team effort. Chuck Swindoll hammers home this message: “Nobody is a whole team…. We need each other. You need someone and someone needs you. To make this thing called life work, we gotta lean and support. And relate and respond. And give and take.”

Additional Resources

CIRCLE Resources on Partnerships

Recent Posts about Communication and Cooperation

Author

Arceli Rosario

Arceli Rosario, PhD, Chair, Education Department, Graduate School, Adventist International Institute of Adventist Studies, Philippines.

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