Bible Reading: Romans 12:3-8
Since we are all one body in Christ, we belong to each other, and each of us needs all the others. Romans 12:5
YOUR BODY PARTS are getting together for a meeting. The chairperson, your hand, gripping a gavel, calls the meeting to order. In a surprise first piece of business, your big toes step to the podium and say, “We quit.”
“What are you talking about, Toes?” growls your belly.
“We’re tired of getting stepped on,” your big toes moan together.
“You are low guys on the totem pole,” injects the funny bone. Hand raps the gavel. “Order, please!”
“Order? Cheeseburger, please!” the funny bone howls. Hand motions to the sergeant-at-arms, who promptly twists the distracting member behind your back.
“I don’t like the sound of this, Toes,” the ears say. “How do you think you can get along without the rest of us?”
“We’ll run away,” Toes reply. “We can wriggle to wherever we want.”
“You won’t be able to see where you’re going,” observe the eyes.
“We’ll get by,” one toe insists. “We might even take some of our other toe friends with us. In fact, the feet feel the same way we do. They’ll probably hoof off with us too.”
The forehead wrinkles. Then your mouth speaks up. “Maybe you can get along without us, Toes, but we won’t make it without you. We count on you to keep us balanced.”
“Because of you,” say the hands, “we can put our best feet forward.”
The toes wiggle at the outpouring of attention. “We do get a kick out of hanging out with the rest of you. Maybe we need each other more than we realized.”
“And that’s what I’ve been thinking all along,” the brain concludes.
Twentieth-century songsters Paul Simon and Art Garfunkel sang these immortal words written by Simon: “I am a rock, I am an island.” You probably have moments when that defiant strain of self-sufficiency wells to the surface. But seventeenth century English poet John Donne wrote these wise words that better reflect reality: “No man is an island, entire of itself.”
As much as you might try, you can never be completely independent. Even Jesus wanted fellowship, friendship, and prayer with his peers. Part of living sacrificially is admitting you need others and allowing others to need you.
REFLECT: Do your family members and friends know that you need them? Are you meeting their need for you?
PRAY: Talk to God about it.
