THE SEQUOIA TREES of California, known as Redwoods, are spectacular – towering as much as 300 feet above the ground…

Strangely, these towering trees have unusually shallow root systems that spread out just under the surface of the ground to catch as much of the surface moisture they can. And this is their vulnerability. Storms with heavy winds would almost always bring these giants crashing to the ground but this rarely happens because they grow in clusters and their intertwining roots provide support for one another against the storms.

When we are together, either as a family or a church, we provide this same support. Pain and suffering come to all of us.  But, just like those giant Sequoia trees, we can be supported in those difficult times by the touch of one another’s lives. The knowledge we have someone; that we are not alone; that there is someone who is willing to touch us, hold us – keeps us from being destroyed.

The apostle Paul said we are “many members, yet one body” (1 Cor. 12:20), and he goes on in that context to tell us every member is vital to the whole (1 Cor. 12:22-27). As the body of Christ we are built up by one another. “From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love” (Eph. 4:16). To stand alone will bring destruction – we need one another. Tell your brethren this week how much you need them and appreciate them. And be the support for your brethren they need.  Tom Moore, Hamilton, Texas

“That there should be no schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another.”  1 Corinthians 12.25

Mike Benson