No Lone Rangers

“I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.” John 17:20-21

I remember reading a news story several years ago about an incident in Kansas. It was in the fall of the year, and a little toddler wandered out into a large field. Now, his parents did not miss him for several hours, and then realized, to their horror, that their little boy was missing. So they began to search the field.

There was tall wheat in the field and they couldn’t find him. They searched and searched until finally they called the local authorities and the word got out that this little boy was missing.

So all the people in the small town began to look and they were scattering about, just running here and there across that field. Until finally someone had an idea after several hours for all the people to join hands and make a human comb across the field.

But as they reached the edge of the field, they found that little boy’s lifeless body. He had died of exposure. The local newspaper had a picture on the front page showing a despairing and weeping father. They quoted him as saying, “If we had only joined hands sooner, perhaps we could have saved my boy.”

As you and I look at the decaying and dying world in which we live, we must realize that not one of us can live this life alone. Therefore, we must join hands. That’s why God has given us a church—a people of God to work side-by-side to expand his Kingdom and bring more people to life in Christ.

THERE ARE NO ‘LONE RANGERS’ IN THE CHRISTIAN LIFE. SO WORK ALONGSIDE OTHER BELIEVERS FOR GOD’S KINGDOM PURPOSES.