November 13, 2022
Ride or Die Together
by: Greg Nass, Founder, AdventureMen Ministries, https://www.adventuremen.org
Mountain biking at a new location is always exciting because I ride new trails and see new sights. Then when I get the opportunity to go at it alone, that adventure level quickly jumps from awesome to epic as I anticipate and prepare for the unexpected.
Having the proper tools on hand in case something breaks could be critical to survival, as some trails can take you miles and miles away from civilization. I recently went to a new trail system in the mountains of Pennsylvania. After about 12 miles into the ride, I developed a creaking coming from my drive train - the drive train is all the parts that make you go, including the pedals, cranks, sprockets, and chain. Climbing a big hill, my chain broke, throwing me forward and down into the bike, which is startling and painful. Without the chain, my bike won't move. Thankfully, I prepared and brought a chain tool that helped me repair a broken link. I was able to fix my chain and get going again.
That broken chain made me think about 1 Corinthians 12:12-19. It reminded me that we are all part of one body. My bike is useless without a chain. It's also useless without a tire or a pedal because it all works together to move the bike forward. If one is down, they’re all down. On the flip side of that coin, if all parts work together in harmony, the bike functions as it should and allows for adrenaline-pumping travel.
Just like the pieces on my bike, we are all part of the body of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. We all have a unique purpose, one that has been gifted to us by God. When coupled with others' unique purpose, it now becomes even more powerful, and it's all for the glory of Jesus Christ.
That's why we need to stay connected to the other parts of the body of Christ. We can't function alone--we need to ride together!
Today's Scripture: Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body—whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many.
Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.
If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be?
But in fact God has placed the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? (1 Corinthians 12:12-19, NIV)
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.