At a local scooter club I heard a safety saying, “Dress for the fall, not the ride”. I took it to advise being prepared for difficulties not just the enjoyment. Today my daily Bible reading surfaced a scripture with a similar message but in a larger context.
Two are better than one … if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up … and a threefold cord is not quickly broken. — Ecclesiastes 4:9-12
My culture values independence and, certainly, we all are sometimes forced to stand alone in difficulty but all too often we do so unnecessarily and to our peril.
We dress our lives, so to speak, for the ride and don’t consider the fall. This is why it is essential to pick (and be) a good spouse, one with godly character who will follow through with the vow to love for better and for worse. This is why it is important to actively seek a good church and a good pastor, people who can say the hard things without offending. This is why it is essential to be and actively seek friends with godly character, who can give the right kind of encouragement. All three (spouse, community, friends) together should be sought for strength like a three strand cord, holding should any single strand fail. Going it alone easily ends in disaster!
Anyone can follow Christ when living is easy. Don’t wait for a storm, take the easy times to prepare for when it gets hard — “Dress for the fall not the ride.”
— fritz@langgang.com
The Old Testament had strict dietary laws generally based on inherent animal characterises — fish with fins and scales, “clean”, fins without scales, “unclean”. Animals chewing the “cud” and parting the hoof were ok to eat but those having one without the other, no good!
“Christianity is not any one thing which Christ gives to me; Christianity is Christ giving himself to me” – Watchman Nee
Patrikin - Kinship through The Father 