Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Sometimes We All Need Cheerleaders

When we get together, I want to encourage you in your faith, but I also want to be encouraged by yours. (Romans 1:12 NLT)

A child was trapped in the fourth story of a burning house. The child came to the window and began to cry out for help as the flames engulfed the building. A fireman got on the fire escape ladder to climb to where the child was in order to rescue the child. As he climbed, the winds blew the flames to where it was making it unbearably hot and dangerous to keep climbing. He hesitated and thought of retreating from this dangerous mission.

Down below, a crowd of people had gathered. As they saw the fireman hesitating, their hearts melted at the thought of the child perishing in the fire if the fireman couldn't reach him. Then someone in the crowd began to cheer. Soon everyone in the crowd began cheering on the fireman. As cheer after cheer went up, the fireman suddenly gathered up courage, climbed through the dangerous fire, engulfed in smoke and got the child down to safety. In a situation that could have turned disastrous, cheers made a difference.

Sometimes the life of faith can seem like climbing a fire escape ladder while the house is burning. You have a worthy goal but the way up there is treacherous. So you hesitate and may even get discouraged to the point of despair. At such times when you are really tempted to quit and pack it all up, a little cheer can make a whole lot of difference. There is something about well-timed encouragement that can suddenly put the springs back to your steps and rearrange the stars that have fallen of your sky. A cheer can put you back in the game of faith.

No matter how self-motivated and independent we are, we all need the cheers of others sometimes. Even Jesus, at the Garden of Gethsemane needed his friends to stand with him at his darkest hour of trials. In our text, Paul shows us the fountain from which such encouragement of faith flows in the words: " When we get together..." Mutual encouragement takes place in fellowship with others. A great company of faith- filled friends is a necessity in the faith walk. Think of the following. Is it possible that the four Hebrew children thrown in the fiery furnace found it easier to stand their faith because they were four not just one? Would Esther have been able to confront the king had it not been for the encouragement of Mordecai? Peter and John went to their company after they had been beating for preaching the gospel. They joined hands to pray and everyone was cheered. Paul was despondent almost to the point of death until Titus arrived to cheer him up. How about the paralyzed man whose friends broke the roof down to get him to Jesus?

On and on we could go to demonstrate the power of mutual encouragement. As iron sharpens iron, so a friend sharpens a friend. (Proverbs 27:17 NLT). You need a cheering company too. You need to get together often with such friends. Sometimes at your most discouraging times, you are tempted to stay away from others but non- fellowship is like a poison that kills so slowly that you may not realize it. An animal out of the pack is easy prey for predators. Sometimes, it is strife and bitterness that keeps you isolated. Guard against that, bitterness makes your circle smaller and smaller until it be becomes a circle of one- you. That's dangerous. Find a company if you do not have one yet. If you do already, utilize it. Get together often even if it requires effort. Stay in touch with your company. Be a cheerleader of others and when its your turn, receive your own cheers gratefully.

Decision of the Day

I understand the power of mutual encouragement. I will utilize it in my faith walk. I will get together often with a company of people who I can cheer and whom can cheer me on in my walk of life.

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